Blog 1- History of this Website 03/08/2022
I am writing this first blog to explain a little history about our website. For a few years I thought of creating a website for ministry and another for car repairs. My wife and I have been involved in teaching Bible studies, evangelism, and nursing home ministry. We wanted a web site where we could post Bible teaching videos, and share various inspirations from the Bible (the Word of God).
God has blessed us in many ways in family, ministry, church groups and His promises in the Bible. Jesus said in Matthew 10:8b NKJV, “Freely you have received, freely give.” We want to be able to give to others so that everyone may "know the love of Christ that passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:19 NKJV). Even though I've had this on my heart for several years, I just got around to building this website. If you sense the Lord wants you to do something, you should do it.
This website is still in process, but I pray that everyone will be encouraged in faith and realize the blessings available in Jesus Christ and in having a personal relationship with Him and God the Father.
Allan
Blog 2-Disciples of Jesus 04/2022
In John 8:32 it says,”If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Those who are born again are truly Jesus' disciples and it says we shall know the truth (God's word) and it shall make us free. We need to realize what we been set free from (the law of sin and death, and the kingdom of darkness), who we are and what we have in Christ, and what we are called to do. I'm preaching to myself here as well.
In chapter Matthew 28 verse 19 NKJV, Jesus says, "go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," As disciples of Jesus, we should be making disciples (followers of Jesus). Sometimes this appears hard to do. However, keep in mind that we have armor and weapons (the word of God and prayer) as described in Ephesians 6:11-13. He has also given us a Helper (the Holy Spirit as mentioned in John 14:26) to help us do the job. In addition, we have other weapons: faith (1 John 5:4), the blood of Jesus, and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11). Again, I'm preaching to myself here.
Allan
Blog 3- The Way of Escape 05/02/22
Every Christian should be concerned about turning away from sin and following Jesus the Author and Perfector of our faith. How do you do this practically?
Here are some points that have helped me. I am speaking to myself as well on this. All verses are in the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.
1) God offers a way of escape. Take it. “...but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” - 1 Corinthians 10:13
2) a) Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.”- John 10:10 NASV The thief is the devil or Satan. There is certainly enough of the devil's work in the world.
b) In James 4:7 it says, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”- James 4:7 It takes faith to believe this will work.
c) If possible, speak it out loud. 2 Corinthians 4:13 says, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak,” In other words, faith speaks.
3) In Romans 8:2, it says that, “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” We have to believe it.
4) And finally, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”- Ephesians 6:11 So the armor of God mentioned in Ephesians 6 is:
a. “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth
b. having put on the breastplate of righteousness
c. and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
d. above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
e. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
f. praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—"
Notice that it takes: Standing- v14 (not moving from; staying focused), Faith- v16, (faith in God, faith in His word), Praying- v18 (communicating with God), being Watchful- v18 (be alert), and Perseverance- v18 (persistence).
We may not be perfect at it, but we have to stay focused and be willing to do it. If we mess up, confess it to the Lord and get back on the right track.
Allan
Blog 4- Troubles, Adversity, and the Abundant Life 05/03/2022
After I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior in 1975, I believed at times that there would be no more troubles. After all, Jesus said in John 10:10, “ I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” However, if we look at the beginning part of that verse it says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” I soon found out that there was an enemy (a thief; the devil) who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. If we've lived life even a few years, we realize that there are troubles, much grief and sorrow in the world, and that not everyone likes us. In fact, it seems that after we do confess Jesus as Lord we have more troubles or tribulations than we did before, because we have an enemy to deal with. (Jesus said, These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33)
So, how can we live an abundant life if there are trials, persecutions, and troubles to deal with? Many of us, including myself, do not expect tribulations, adversities, and troubles. Nonetheless, they creep up on us.
Here are some Helpful Hints that I've found can help keep us on the right track when we experience tribulations, difficulties, and persecutions in life:
1) Look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. - Hebrews 12:2
In Him you will have peace.- John 16:33
Make Him your “dwelling place”, in other words, the place where you live.- See Psalm 91
2) Realize there is an enemy who comes to steal, kill, and destroy; and that we will have tribulations, troubles, and adversities at times.
3) Remember, God is good and He gives good gifts to His children.- Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:17
4) Rejoice anyway- It may seem hard to do when things are not going well, but I've found you just have to do it anyway (Rejoice in the Lord always.- Philippians 4:4). It's a way to demonstrate your faith.
5) Stand in faith. Find a Bible verse(s) you can speak out loud that pertains to the situation.- 2 Corinthians 4:13- “I believed and therefore I spoke,”we also believe and therefore speak, 6) Realize that it may take faith and patience- (Hebrews 6:12- that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.) Many of us, including myself, don't always like the patience part. I've found if you want to hurry it up and get through the trial start rejoicing and give thanks in the situation. Complaining, and getting upset or depressed just prolongs the trial.
Allan
Blog 5- Walking in the Spirit vs. Walking in the Flesh 07/07/2022
Revised 07/11/2022, 08/30/2022
Introduction
Those of us who know Jesus and are following Him, know the importance of walking in the Spirit rather than in the flesh. In Galatians 5:16 NKJV it says, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” But what does this really mean?
Walking in the Spirit
For years I didn't know what that really meant. Most of us can understand that walking in the Spirit means to be led by the Holy Spirit. So how do we be led by the Spirit? Remember for those who are in Christ that: ...if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.- 2 Corinthians 5:17. So the old sinful nature has passed away when we are in Christ. I'm speaking to myself as well.
Helpful Hints to Walking in the Spirit
1) Connect with God (pray and seek Him) and stay connected.
Pray without ceasing- 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Pray in the Spirit (pray in tongues) Jude 20- But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
2) keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.- Jude 21
3) Set your mind on the things of the Holy Spirit. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.-Romans 8:5 NIV
GREAT REVELATION: How you walk depends on what you set your mind on.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excllent or praiseworthy-think about such things.- Philippians 4:8 NIV
4) Read and meditate on the word of God- Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2
5) Be thankful- 1 Thessalonians 5:18- in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Let's go back to being led by the Spirit or hearing from God. A lot of times, God speaks to me in a “still, small voice” (not out loud, but through an inner prompting of the Holy Spirit: For example: Do this, Don't go there, Go talk with that person, Tell that person I love him, or This is what you should do in this situation). God also speaks to us in His word (the Bible) as we read and meditate on it, through other people, and even in other ways. Whatever God is telling us will always agree with His Word.
In the New Testament, there are two words for the Word of God: logos and rhema. Logos is the written word of God- the Bible. Rhema is the spoken word of God- God speaking to us. God can certainly speak to us in either way or in other ways mentioned above. Rhema is like a personal word to us at a certain time; for example: I want you to do this today, or This is what to do in this situation. But again anything God tells you inwardly must line up with the Bible.
I believe that most Christians want to know God's will for their lives and be hearing from God.
There are some prerequisites to this as outlined in Romans 12:1-2:
1) ...by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. So our bodies are to be a living sacrifice to God. According to 2 Corinthians 5:15, ...and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. I'm preaching to myself as well, that our ultimate goal is to live for Christ and not for ourselves. That may look differently for all of us as to how we carry this out (we don't have the same trials and hardships, we don't have the same families, we don't the same gifts and talents, or the same finances, or the same friends, but ultimately we should be living for Jesus.)
Eternal life is about knowing God the Father and knowing Jesus (John 17:3).
As we connect with Him and remain in His word and in fellowship with Him, we will be walking in the Spirit.
2) And do not be conformed to this world
3) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You get your mind transformed by reading and meditating on the word of God, and being willing to obey it.
4) that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Walking in the Flesh
What does it mean to walk in the flesh? For years I had trouble understanding this. True there are works of walking in the flesh as mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21: adultery, fornication...hatred...envy...drunkenness, etc., but these are the results of it.
I realize others may have a different interpretation of this, but in my opinion to walk in the flesh could be to walk according to your senses (what you see, hear, taste, smell) or according to how you feel as opposed to what God says about the matter. The flesh leaves God out of the picture and is concerned with what I want. That's why if we walk according to what God wants, we don't have to worry about committing deeds of the flesh or doing the wrong things; Also we don't have to worry about condemnation (Romans 8:1 NKJV- There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.)
We look unto to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2) and follow Him, and He will take care of the rest. If you are not looking unto Jesus and remaining in His word, you will probably get off track and be walking in the flesh.
Allan
Blog 6- Being Woke vs. Being a Bible-Believing Christian Revised 01/16/2023
Introduction
In the last few years being woke has become very popular in our culture. I will attempt to differentiate this with being a Bible-believing Christian.
Woke
Being woke may seem good on the surface; however if you dig deeper you will discover what it's all about. It is good to speak out against social injustice. However, I believe, you should do it in a constructive way. The woke philosophy makes people aware a social injustice of the past against certain group(s) of people and pinpoints the culprits who have done this. Unfortunately, woke labels all the people in the attacking culture as bad and does not leave any room that there may be a few good people in the group that haven't acted that way. This is an inaccurate assessment.
In my opinion, woke does not provide a solution to the problem or believe that people can change for the good. Woke does not promote forgiveness or unity, but can stir up hatred and strife instead of having a positive effect.
Most importantly from a spiritual point of view, Wokeism leaves God out of the picture, and that He created man in His image to fellowship with Him and for good works. Also, it does not talk about how a person can be changed from a sinner (for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God- Romans 3:23 NKJV) to a new creation in Christ (please read 2 Corinthians 5:17). I'll explain this more below.
Bible-believing Christian
I am using the term Bible-believing Christian and not Christianity, because I want to emphasize that being a Christian is not just a philosophy of life or a religion. It's about having a personal relationship with God through Jesus and confessing Him as Lord – Romans 10:9 (in other words, you're following Him letting Him be the boss). It's a matter of the heart, not the intellect or the mind. Many people know about God and Jesus, but not all know Him. Only making Him your Lord and Savior will produce a life change (2 Corinthians 5:17). Once this life change starts taking place, a person will want to love God,, love others, and do good works.
To become a new person in Christ and have your life changed:
1) Realize you're not perfect (for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God- Romans 3:23).
2) Realize God's love and forgiveness available (John 3:16).
3) Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior form sin (John 4)Confess Jesus as Lord believing in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9)
5) Follow Him (A person may not be able to do this perfectly, but if you read the Bible, pray, and have a heart to follow Him, He will help you.
6) Read the Bible. Get you mind renewed with the Bible (the written word of God) Romans 12:2
7) Go to a church where God is honored and the truth is preached (Hebrews 10:25). Find some Christians you can connect with.
Allan
Blog 7- March to Support Israel
Some pictures of the Assembly to support Israel on the National Mall November 14. are included in the Gallery of this website. We were there to support Israel. It was a peaceful assembly no violence and the estimated crowd was 200,000. Speakers included Chuck Schumer, Mike Johnson, and others. One woman, I believe, spoke about a family member who had been a holocaust survivor. They were thankful for the Biden Administration for supporting Israel. There was a spirit of unity there and a great desire to see the hostages released.
As you know on October 7, Hamas brutally attacked Israel on the Gaza strip killing many people including women, children, and men; raping women; and going from house to house taking people captive.
There is a promise associated with blessing the people of Israel: God said to Abraham, “ I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you...”- Genesis 12:3 NKJV.
You may not agree, but here are some questions to consider: What would you do if Hamas came to your house and wanted to wipe out your family or take them captive? Whose side would you be on?
Allan Woodward
Blog 8- Which do you choose: Lack, Frustration, and Sickness or God Prospering You?
Christians believe several different things when it comes to Prosperity. For some, prosperity may mean only having monetary riches; after all doesn't the Bible say that “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1Timothy 6:10)? I would suggest that prosperity is not just having money. Let's consider other ways a person can prosper according to the Bible. 1 John 1:2 NKJV- “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” God wants us to prosper in all things and be in good health. In other words, God wants us to do well. Would a loving heavenly Father want His children be doing poorly, be in lack, frustrated, or sick? Of course not. God is good and He gives good gifts to His children (James 1:17).Others may believe that God wants to prosper us only in certain ways, such as: in our minds, souls, and spiritually. And still others, believe that God wants to prosper us in all aspects of our life.
So to the first group, I would suggest we look at 1 Timothy 6:10 more closely. Notice it's the love of money that is mentioned here. If we love money more that God or more than others, that would be wrong and an idol (something more important than God). It is possible to have money and not have it be an idol. Jesus said,”For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21) It depends on your attitude toward money and riches. Are they to hoard for yourself and just spend it on what you want and like; or is it to be used for God's purposes, to help build His kingdom here on the earth and help others? I believe the second: using it for God's purposes. This may look different for every person depending on how much they have and how much they give and receive as a cheerful giver. In 2 Corinthians 9:7 it says, “So let each of you give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Here's a benefit to having more than enough to pay the bills, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8) So God wants us to have more than enough to give to every good work; IMO to give out to others.
Let's look at a few other Scriptures and discover what being said:
Matthew 6:22 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” You might think, well I don't have money to give out to others or to give to God's purposes. I would suggest you give what you can cheerfully from your heart. I heard a true story about a Bible student who gave a pencil in the offering, because that's all he had. He got a return on it and was able to give more.
Joshua 1:8 “This book of the Law shall not depart from you mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and have good success.” If we meditate in His Law (His word) day and night and have a heart to do it, we will be prosperous and have good success. Can we do this perfectly? I don't think so; but we walk by faith and not by sight; and if you mess up, confess your sin and move on. The key to living by faith is you hear God's word and speak it; and if you sin, you confess it and move on. Remember faith has works and Faith Works Through Love. (See Galatians 5:6)
Psalm 115:14 “ The Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children. God wants us and our children to increase.”
Psalm 90:16-17 “Let your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to your children. And let the beauty of the be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us.”.God wants us to prosper in our work.
John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Jesus Himself said this that He wants us to have life and have it more abundantly. Why should we settle for anything less?
Allan