#JesusChrist #Jesus #areyouatare #areyoubornagain

By Ric Joyner

We have been talking with people that have been in church all their lives. Most are or were in mainline denominations. However, they "don't connect" with the church anymore, and worse, the Word of God (Bible) they say they can't understand or don't want to. "Church is a business." "God doesn't answer my prayers." "Too many bad things in the world." "Too many hypocrites (like me in the church)." I added the "like me" because we are all broken pottery. I get it. But the problem is that Jesus warned, in a parable Matthew 13:24-30, that..."The wheat sprouted and bore grain; then the tares became evident also. 27 "The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' 28 "And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' (NASB Matthew 13:24) AN ENEMY. Could people be in church and never know they need to be born again? YES. They are tares! What is born again? Christ told the equivalent of the POPE of Israel in John 3, named Nicodemus; he needed to be born brand new from heaven. Only God can make us born again by His Spirit. If we think being good is good enough or what we do to be good is the answer, we are in trouble. But how are we born again? We must put our faith (in God's word) and trust in Christ to save us from our sin and place our sins upon Him by faith, or we are in danger of carrying them into eternity while thinking we are a good person. Good people, by whose, or WHOSE standard? Ours or God's? I don't care about the denomination, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Charismatic, or a host of others. We all must be born again. BTW, if you are living a life full of sin and have been in church all of your life, perhaps that is a significant indicator you need to ask the Lord to save you. Here is an excellent link in case this is missing in your life. DON'T BE A TARE (an enemy of God) that does not bear fruit (wheat) for their Master. You can come to Him today and cry out to Him for salvation just by asking Him. Are you struggling to believe in His saving work on the cross? Then share that too with Him, but ask Him to help you believe. Here is the link. https://biblestudycompany.com/blog/article/81

Episode Summary

Do you need some new fresh glasses to view for your Bible study? Do you know that the entire Bible can be summed up in this theme? "God is restoring us to Himself and to the Garden".

Episode Notes

We are offering new glasses for you to put on as a bible study tool for 2021 and beyond. But we must ask ourselves if we should wear glasses when approaching the Bible? The answer is no and yes.  

If we study the bible to "get something out of it for ourselves" we are in danger of treating God's Holy Word as a "devotional" and being a consumer. Using it as a devotion is "ok" but we could be missing more. Such as, these words were used to create the universe. Maybe there is more to see than just devotional reading? But we can turn to Him, knowing this Bible is God's revealed Will for us to embrace, it will change us to know we are studying what Our King wants us to obey. Does this make us disciples versus pewsitters? Yes, because Christ said in John 14:15, "If you love Me, you will obey My commandments.  

Let that sink in. First, if we love Him we will obey. Second, did He just say He is the author of the commandments given on Mt. Sinai aka God Almighty, the great I AM? We would say, yes. So, Christ gives us a major clue on how we are to respond to Him to show we love Him...by obeying His word.  His World, His Word, we are His servants.

"Ok, Ric and Mary, we get obeying God's word is a major theme for Podcast for Pewsitters but what is this restoration thing you are pushing?"

We cover the restoration theme of the Bible from start to finish in one episode which clearly shows that God's Will for us is to fellowship with Him in a garden. The garden is a repeat pattern in the Bible from Eden to Revelation!  For 2021 we will be pointing out restoration as it shapes our biblical studies. Will you join us? Grab your beverages! 

Join us for exploring some new glasses. Please share! This is how we grow! 

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POWERPOINT

A Worshipful Merry Christmas to all!!!

Regardless of when Christ was born, we celebrate; "The Great Rescue from Heaven". Mankind chose to sin after being created sinless and was separated from God. We are born into sin. But because of His Great Love for us, our Creator gave us free will. We all will die. We also live in a world full of sin and death. He prophesied a Rescuer to come and fix the sin and death issue. Our world is destroyed based on the choices of mankind. But the Great Rescue was underway from heaven. Christ came as a baby. Why? To live a full life in a human "tent" but remained Creator God. Think of the impact of this statement. The sinless Creator God came! The same ONE in the garden of Eden. Only He could come and fix what our ancestors "broke". After showing clearly with "signs" that Immanuel (God with us) came to earth and was the Messiah, by fixing broken hearts, bodies and restoring people who were lost to religious works and expectations of the world around them..so to the cross He went. To show us the Way to be obedient to God is our hope. Why a cross? Because it was the worst human experience that people could do to others as human "justice". Christ willingly gave His life to pay what we could not....our sin debt we accumulated against God. That cross represents what God thinks of sin. It is horrible to us and others. But we don't see ourselves badly. And why would we? We are good, right? But by whose standards? But we need a mirror, which is God's Word to show us what is REALLY in us! Today the great rescue for all of us is available as a free gift from Heaven. We can accept or reject it. We had a choice in the garden. We have a choice to now in the tomb garden. If we reject this Gift, are we are telling God His "Gift" from heaven is not good enough to forgive our sin? And that you will take your chances upon death? Our sin debt and the fear of death were defeated at the cross, and placing our sin on Him by faith and, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ's resurrection, which was to show us our promise of eternal life with our Creator! Will you open the Gift? Do so now, right where you are, and kneel down like the wise men and offer your heart to Him in gratitude and give to Him your sin by faith. He washed our sin away with His very own blood. We now can rejoice! Christmas came into our hearts because we are born again by Heaven's Gift!!! Let us know if you opened your Gift from Heaven.

#givingtuesday #spreadthegospel #jesussaves

We have arrived at GivingTuesday! Typically we do not run fundraisers. We offer BSC for free. We hope you will consider donating to help support our expenses.

Yet, our website and apps are only one part of the ministry we call Praiseworthy Life, Inc which is also doing business as (DBA) Biblestudycompany.com.

Here is what you are supporting. 

• Work to share the Gospel of Christ
• Developing training tools for discipleship
• Study and research about living praiseworthy to God 
• Podcasts and YouTube presentations. The podcasts (audio) have reached over 12,500 people around the world! China and India are growing! 
• We are updating our website, which is our greatest area of expense.  
• We support Loveisrael.org financially and placing their videos inside our tools and apps. By adding them into our tools Loveisrael.org gains more audience.
• Social media interactions

We do ask that when considering BSC for donations, please do NOT take from your local congregation. Nor take from Loveisrael.org. Consider us standalone. 

You can donate here. Please consider selecting the monthly donations sequence. This helps us with our budget. 

Ric and Mary Joyner

#prophecy #trumpprophecy #electionresults #biblestudy #falseprophets

CLICK BELOW FOR THE MEDIA FORMAT YOU WILL LIKE

There is a whirlwind of prophecies out on the internet. Trump will win. Trump won't win. "You will receive your breakthrough" (whatever that is). Is your head spinning? Mine is, and I picked up the zoom tool and called Dr. Daniel Goepfrich of Theologyisforeveryone.com. Join us for this rousing and spirited topic. 

EPISODE NOTES

Did you know that NOT ONE OF THE PROPHETS SAW COVID? Yep! Should that end our trust in these so-called prophets? You have the same anointing as they do. Don't believe us? Go to 1John 2:26-.

Mary and I were in many Charismatic churches.  The more we have learned how to study the bible and respond to God, asking Him to help us change to His will, we are moving away from the teaching of Charismatic churches and researching what we grew up having been taught.  

It is a breath of fresh air that Dr. Goepfrich, who was not in Pentecostal or Charismatic churches, has a tough time understanding "our thinking" and this provides us with great fodder for our discussion. He cautions heavily against listening to these prophets. I would not caution: We go further.  We would say RUNNNNNN! Read your bible instead. 

We say, in "Charismatic circles," that the bible is our foundation. But sadly, this is not true in practice.  We tend to look for experiences, trust our experiences, put too much weight in leaders we thought are more "spiritual" than we,  and looked for "words from the Lord" through men? Is this the right thing to do? The bible has a lot to say about  false prophecies and their effect on God's people. What is the effect, you may ask? That we are led AWAY from seeking the Lord for OURSELVES. That is scary, isn't it?  Jeremiah 14 discusses false prophecies, and especially Jeremiah 23, prohibits us from speaking for the Lord. And that makes sense as we are only human, frail and sinful. But can we have confidence in our God that He spoke the Universe into existence, and made each one of us? Is God on the throne of His creation? Of course.  Dr. Goepfrich relates with us his views from Scripture. 

He said this, and I paraphrase: "I do know this...when we open the Bible and let it speak to us, we are on the safe ground". The Bible is objective truth. 

Bible study company will always be in the "Reformed Charismatic" camp. Meaning, that like in the reformation of church history, the Christians went back to the Bible. We are going back to the Bible.

Seeking revival? It starts in our hearts when we study God's word to live praiseworthy to Him.  

Get Dr. Daniel's books: https://amzn.to/3kBpnW5

Get his teachings: https://www.oaktreechurch.com/

Theologyisforeveryone.com  and you can join for free

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theologyisforeveryone

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#biblestudy #danielgoepfrich #disciple #discipleship #God #Jesus #JesusChrist #theology #biblestudycompany

The answer is yes. If you have been in the charismatic or pentecostal movements as we were, you will notice that the bible is said to be foundational, but it is secondary in practice. What is primary to the bible, you ask? Books from  Christian celebrities,  going to conferences, emotional revivals, and worse; are prophecies or dreams that predict the future! At some point in our walk with God, we need to become disciples. This means studying the  Word of God for ourselves, but we need proper training. Where can we get good training? From the website, Theology is for everyone and loveisrael.org.

We are interviewing Dr. Daniel Goepfrich that created a wonderful Facebook page and website to help get our answers. 

Some of the topics we are discussing are:

1. Mark of a false prophet
2. Prophecy
3. Speaking in tongues
4. Why aren't churches teaching people to study the bible?
5. How do we know something is false if we are not familiar with the bible. 
6. Why we need to study and not put our full trust in teachers but the Word of God. 
7. Moving from pewsitter to disciple to disciple teacher

We go off on some interesting tangents, so join us and join "theology is for everyone." 

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Resources: 
https://www.theologyisforeveryone.com/  (join for free) 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/theologyisforeveryone

Oak Tree Community Church https://www.oaktreechurch.com/

Books by Daniel Goepfrich
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=daniel+goepfrich&crid=1Y6ZFXRMII6GL&sprefix=daniel+goep%2Caps%2C420&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_11

#biblestudy #danielgoepfrich #disciple #discipleship #God #Jesus #JesusChrist

We are excited to introduce you to Dr. Daniel Goepfrich, who has a website and Facebook page called THEOLOGY IS FOR EVERYONE. (see resources below)

He is also a professor and teaching pastor. 

At Bible Study Company, we want to give tools for pewsitters to grow to become a disciple. As we have learned together, becoming a disciple is about following the Master. But how?

Daniel wrote a book that Mary and I are working through called: Biblical Discipleship.

Some of the discussion topics:

What is discipleship? We have many definitions, but what is the real one? And are we a disciple?

What is salvation? Daniel says there are two issues, "Who Jesus is?" And what "Jesus did?" To name just a few topics.

There are some fun twists and turns, as you may find enjoyable. 

Daniel's style is engaging, informative, experiential, and compassionate. 

Join us for this fast-paced podcast/video. 

Resources: 
https://www.theologyisforeveryone.com/  (join for free) 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/theologyisforeveryone

Oak Tree Community Church https://www.oaktreechurch.com/

Books by Daniel Goepfrich
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=daniel+goepfrich&crid=1Y6ZFXRMII6GL&sprefix=daniel+goep%2Caps%2C420&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_11

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How many times have you struggled with "thou shalt nots" of Scripture? Ever been hurt in church? Have you tried to follow the "rules" and it didn't work? Ever felt like a failure in your relationship with God? Join Pastor Jerry Herman when he shares a message with hope and healing. 

We were visiting churches. We decided to check out Pastor Herman's church and were stunned by the message. It is biblestudycompany's message of hope that we need God's revelation and His help in walking with Him. 

Many of us have a story where the  churches we belong to got off track and there were much hurt and disillusionment. Some of us walked away from God. But that is not where our hope should have been...on people. 

Could the wounds be healed? Yes, by realizing people are broken pottery, but God wants us to put our whole dependence on Him, not on churches or people. 

When churches preach "thou shalt  nots", Christ is saying "I am, and I will". Focus on Christ. Depend on Him and ask Him to change us with His power. 

Listen to the truth of Jerry Herman's story and how he came from a legalistic church environment. The words were our story as well.

Pastor Herman, realized he was managing his Christian walk with the Lord in his own mind and fleshly decisions. He said, "I looked good on the outside but falling apart on the inside".  

Join us for this podcast for pewsitters. 
 

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#biblestudy #weneedrevelation #10commandments

Episode Summary
We need revelation from God in our bible study. How do we get that? Join us for this podcast with Ric and Mary Joyner of Bible Study Company. 

Episode Notes
Did you know that in Exodus 34: 28  After Moses saw the golden calf and broke the tablets, and begging God to forgive the people, that the Lord called Moses up to the mountain? Notice the word commandments. "28 So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments."

If you click on the word commandments, in BSC you will see the word dabbar, which is revelation from the Lord.   Thus, we could say; The 10 Revelations". What were they revealing? We discuss this very question in our podcast.

The children of Israel made a golden calf because they decided to put their trust in man and break the first covenant in Exodus 20. Do we? Do we put our entire religious life into a teacher or denomination versus studying for ourselves? Getting revelations from God, in our bible study has changed our life. We had no idea that our Christian walk could be so different. 

We could actually say about the 10 commandments; "The 10 wicked revelations of our heart".  Yeah, let that sink in. The "thou shalt nots"  of Exodus 20 now are more clear to us since they are revelations of how we need to treat God and people. 

The Lord Jesus said in John 14:15, "If you love Me you will obey my commandments".  It dawned on us ( was this revelation?) that The Lord Jesus Christ was declaring Himself God (the One Who wrote the commandments) and that if we love Him we will obey His word. How? With His Holy Spirit changing power and a submitted heart. Titus 2:11-12 

He also gave us the answer to "Love the Lord your God with your whole heart..." Obey His word. 

In this podcast, we discuss prayer, the armor of God, and seeking His revelation. We hope you will join us and share! 

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#creation #evolution #6 literal days #Drgerrybreshears

Our podcast is with Dr. Gerry Breshears, is a professor at Western Theology Seminary in Portland, OR. We discuss the theories in the Christian academic world of creation. Join us!

When Mary and I started to study the Bible, we asked the Lord what theories of creation should we adopt. We only had one version in secular schools, and that was evolution. And there are many versions of evolution as well!   But, starting in Genesis 1, God gives us HIS EYEWITNESS testimony of the His narrative of when He created the universe. Eyewitness testimony is missing from secular Science. Thus, the origin of the world, plants and animals, and the universe are just theories and questions in the secular world. 

We started with a "but," and we should then follow up with a problem; we want to believe the Bible and what God says, and this starts with the creation account. 

I find it interesting that God put this upfront in the Bible. Why? Because what we believe matters in our origins and this belief in our origins affects many things.  For example, our worship, sin, eternity, to name a few. Was it 6 literal days or long ages? I was surprised in Christian academia; there are many different theories of "how" God created. 

At the end of our discussion, I address my thoughts, and it will ask this question: How big, or small is your God? 

We should ask ourselves another question. What is Science? Science is a methodology to discover the truth. Here is an internet definition. "Science is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence. [The] Scientific methodology includes the following: Objective observation: Measurement and data (possibly although not necessarily using mathematics as a tool)". Based on this definition, isn't it interesting that the theory of evolution is touted as fact? Change from one "kind" of an animal to the next. Change to suit an enviroment? A big bang. Fossils from every environment (marine, land, freshwater) found in the same layers! Soft tissue in dinos? That was a significant discovery for me, but it can only remain a theory because there isn't any "evidence," just interpretation of the data FROM A SCIENTIFIC PARTICULAR WORLDVIEW (which is another way of saying philosophy)! So our approach to the "science" matters. Our worldview matters. 

Belief in God is absent in some worldviews, as well as it should because evidence should matter. But why is being anti-god in Science make you more objective of a scientist? It doesn't.  Many of the great scientists were Christians with a creation worldview. (Newton, Maury, Bacon) Did that make them less of a scientist? No. But some people in the science world say you cannot be objective if you believe in God. Garbage logic. We could also apply that to those that don't believe in God, right? The goal of Science is to discover the truth, WHEREVER THAT LEADS. But in this case, it matters to us who are bible studiers searching for the correct interpretation of the Bible to get to the revelation of God. We need to know if God did this in 6 literal days. Does our "faith" depend on whether we take God at His testimony? Or does it? It mattered to Abraham. He journeyed to a foreign land based on God's word to him. This action (faith in God's word) led to an entire nation and eventually, our faith in Christ. Our origins and how we perceive them matter. Listen to the podcast prayerfully. Six literal days matters! 

Ric Joyner gives his thoughts before and after this fun talk. Will you join us and share? Please comment. 

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