Bible - Best Seller:

Bible - Best Seller.

Do you know the best-selling book of all time? It's the Bible. 

According to Guinness World Records the Bible is the best-selling book with an estimated 5 billion copies sold and distributed. Each year 100 million copies are sold.

Sales of the Bible in Western countries actually soared during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet at the same time as the growing sales, pollster George Gallup suggested that engagement with the Bible actually declined. 

Gallup observed “We revere the Bible but don’t read it, it is the best-selling and least-read book in America”.

There is probably a Bible in your home, or it’s in an app on your smartphone. Take some time to read it today. It is a worthwhile habit to start.

Share this daily- reading.

Our thanks to Karl Faase.

( Agreed: Digital Anvil )

The Pure Heart ?

The Pure Heart ?

How do you and I obtain one ?

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” ( Matthew 5:8 KJV)

The Greek word for “pure” is katharos, from which we get our English word “catharsis.” Psychiatrists talk about catharsis as the cleansing of a person’s destructive attitudes.

 The biblical word refers to a cleansing of all impurities from your inner spirit–impurities that include evil tendencies, evil thoughts, evil desires, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life (see 1 John 2:16).

To be pure is to have all these impurities removed so that you might reflect the character of Christ Jesus.

(Not  just a better version of oneself.)

 One of the main plagues in our society today, and even in many churches is double mindedness. We have mixed motives, a divided mind and heart. We must put an end to segregating our lives, which causes us to speak and act one way around fellow Christians and another way around those who don’t know Christ. 

To be pure in heart is to have integrity—to have your heart, your head, and your hands fully integrated and aligned with the commands of God. To be a person of integrity is to say what you believe, and then do what you say. 

Jesus said very plainly, “No man can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24 KJV). “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” The pure in heart see God’s loving heart and mercy in every passage of Scripture. They see God in every event of history, shaping and moulding circumstances to serve His higher purposes. And they see God in the midst of their own difficulties, pain, and suffering. 

This isnt just about achieving a better version of yourself but a truly transformative experience of an integration of desire,volition and with the vastly under-estimated support of the Bible.

When your heart’s desire is to see and know God  and people better, He will fulfill that circumstance.

Much thankfulness to Vision.org.au.

( Agreed and Reworked: Digital Anvil )

 

 Kill All Jews:

  

“Kill all Jews” was graffitied on a wall in Germany, 80 years after the Holocaust.

This week, a synagogue in Cottbus was defaced with a swastika. Just one day earlier, graffiti calling for the murder of Jews was found in Berlin.

These were not isolated incidents. They were part of a wave of antisemitic attacks plaguing Germany.

Remember when they said “globalize the intifada” wasn’t a call for violence against Jews? Remember when they said BDS was just about boycotting “apartheid”? Remember when they swore it was only about Zionists, Palestinians, or freedom?

It wasn’t. It never was.

It was always about hating Jews.

 

(Agreed: Digital Anvil) 

Grief and Grieving-- a Cloudy Reflection:

 

 

Grief and Grieving- a Cloudy Reflection:

Grief is not just normal, it's necessary.

Grief is both intensely personal and vastly cosmic in nature.

The first months after my Zina passing into heaven were a wordless agony of tears and the anguish of private howls.

(At around that time, families and friends were getting married,babies were being born.  Friends were fashioned into life- partners.)

 

Renewed beauty in one's life-journey is exchanged for ugliness of death glacially.

 

Comfort was haltingly exchanged for loss.

 

Time passes while empathy declines recognition, but warmth of true love escalated healing. Affection via touch and hugs is magnificent especially when one least expects it. An understanding smile reaps rewards for each occasion. A bright smile lights dark hurts away. Consistency is worth heaps.

While time partially heals, love continues the process more effectively.

Strength of mind avails a little but stalls the process of healing- unfortunately.

 

Almost everything changes, eventually everything is questioned. 

 

What satisfied both easily becomes obsolete. While the months reel by, life for oneself picks a new pace. Oneself gets a new outlook on things which were previously set in stone. What had been troublesome becomes as easy as smearing butter on a piece of toast.  Vice Versa.

 

Regrets surface all the time, but healing happens with setting one's mind on things above, not on the things of this errant world. Revenge seems natural but destroys the soul. ( the only harm happens is to oneself ) One discovers all manner of truth but they seem false under the light of love's conviction. 

 

Lies and selfishness burn holes in one's trust of others.

 

One lies on one's bed and consistently searches one's own heart and shines the light of  one's beliefs onto other's actions and beliefs.

 

Fortunately the truth reveals and prevails over deceptive practices.

 

If one is a follower of Christ, love finds a way through the inevitable strata of confused emotions after many shocking discoveries. 

 

But an ultimate truth is that all  have sinned including oneself, leaves revengeful thoughts in the dust. Rebuke and admonish others with truth, compassion and wisdom. 

 

 

By Digital Anvil.

 

 

 

The cosmic part:

 

"The act of grieving is both an appropriate response to a world that is out of alignment with God's original design and a longing for the day when the world will be made right again." 

                                                                                                            -Unknown. 

 

Cheap Grace, Little Comfort:

Cheap Grace, Little Comfort:

Many want grace that comforts—

few want grace that transforms.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned of a faith that loves forgiveness, yet refuses repentance.

A Christianity that wants heaven, yet resists surrender.

Blessing, yet no obedience.

Mercy, yet no cross.

That kind of grace costs nothing—

because it changes nothing.

Real grace does not excuse sin.

It breaks chains.

Real grace does not leave a person where it found them.

It teaches hearts to deny self, take up the cross, and follow Christ.

The cross was never cheap.

Why should following Jesus be?

Many ask for pardon.

Few ask to be made holy.

Grace is free to receive—

yet it cost Jesus everything.

Anonymous Contributor:

A Hero of mine: D B.

(From Digital Anvil)

The Challenges and Rewards of Leadership:

The challenges and rewards of leadership

“I have called [you]…and [your] way will prosper.” Isaiah 48:15 NKJV

As a leader, you must understand what you do well and know where you need assistance. Your strengths and weaknesses don’t make you wrong or right; they just make you who you are. If you’ve ever heard the saying, “No man is an island,” it was probably said about a great leader. Few people achieve success on their own.

Consider an actor in a play. He may be the one out front in the spotlight; with perfect hair, makeup, and costume; reciting poignant lines and getting all the applause. But he didn’t do it alone. He had to rely on the costume designer for the outfit he wore, the hair and makeup artists who made him look flawless, the playwright who wrote the words, and the lighting and sound crews who set the stage, etc.

 Good leaders are wise enough to surround themselves with people who have strengths that complement theirs. They are still in charge, but they have teams that help them achieve their vision. You are a leader in some area of your life—home, family, work, church—and you know leadership has its challenges. 

While there are certainly many benefits, a leader has to deal with conflict, controversy, and naysayers who think they know better. This comes with the territory. But you can’t let others keep you from achieving your goals. Not everyone will be your cheerleader. That’s just a fact of life. If you are going to be an effective leader, hold fast to your vision, build a great team to help you, and stand on God’s promise: “I have called [you]…and [your] way will prosper.”

SoulFood: Acts 20–21 Matt 5:6–12 Ps 144:9–15 Pro 11:12–13

My earnest thanks to Vision.org.au for this daily- reading.

(Learning: Digital Anvil)

A Clean Slate for the Church ?

A Clean Slate for the Church - Dr Ruth Powell

There is some optimism that younger generations, especially Gen Z (19-29 yrs old), are spiritually open. Many people see signs that things are improving from the dark days of the New Atheist movement across Western nations. At that time, it seemed like the Christian church was in terminal decline.

In my conversation with Dr Ruth Powell, social researcher and head of the National Church Life Survey, she commented on what the data actually shows is happening in the Australian church.

 She said:

"But what I can see is in the next generations, in the Gen Y, the Millennials, and now in the Gen Z, there is, let me be clear, they're not returning to church because they never were in church. There is a clean slate for the church. There is a new opportunity because these generations, younger generations, are spiritually curious.”

For years, people have spoken about Western nations as being post-Christian. Many are suggesting that perhaps a better way to describe the Gen Z cohort is actually pre-Christian. They are ignorant of Christianity, but they are also curious and open. They are not as tainted and skeptical as the generations who came before them.

It may not be a revival, but it’s certainly a welcome boost. Be ready to engage this younger generation with the message of Jesus - they may be way more receptive than you assume.

Share this daily- reading.

Many thanks to Karl Faase.

( from Digital Anvil )