Lonnie's Notes

October 28, 2016

Teaching: 5 Things Every Father Should Do 
 
1. Be a Provider
     Paul put it plainly, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Tim 5:8).
     Certainly a good father does not simply supply material support, but also supports his family in every other way. However, this verse calls every father to financially support his family. There may be unique circumstances where this is not possible, but normally it is a father’s duty.
     One of my favorite dads in the Bible was the father of the prodigal son.  His son ran away and lived in rebellion, but the father is seen as waiting, longing, and looking for a chance to support his son. As soon as the son turned toward home, the father ran to him and put a ring on his finger, shoes on his feet, and killed the fatted calf. He was joyful for the opportunity to provide for his son.
 
2. Pray FOR your Children and WITH your Children
     The Bible tells us about a man named Job who modeled this for us.
“Early in the morning he [Job] would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them[his children], thinking, ‘Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’ This was Job’s regular custom.” (Job 1:5)
     Jesus’ disciples came to him and asked him to teach them to pray. (Luke 11:1). Our children don’t see Jesus in the flesh, but they do see their father. A father should teach his children to pray, to pray for them, and to pray with them.
 Perhaps you are a shy person and do not like to pray before anyone, but when it comes to our children, we must grow past this. Make sure your children hear you pray. From your prayers your children will learn: (1) How to pray, (2) The importance of Prayer, and that (3) God can be trusted with your cares.
 
3. Surround Your Children with Spiritual People
     “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” (1 Corinthians 15:33).
Left to their own devices, kids may not pick the friends who are good for them. When kids observe parents surrounding their family with spiritual people, they may learn to do the same.
     One more thing: Fathers must learn to be careful who their heroes are. My heroes are not drug abusing athletes or foul-mouthed actors. Your kids will be inclined to admire the same people you admire.
 
4. Model the Spiritual Life to Your Children to Live
     One thing that helped King Jehoshaphat be a good king was having a father who was a good king. 1 Kings 22:43 tells us, “In everything he walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”
     When my kids were young and did anything wrong, I would always ask myself, “Did he (or she) learn that from me?” If I know I will leave a good legacy behind for my kids to follow, I don’t mind growing old and even dying someday..
 
5. Look for life’s Teachable Moments
     God tells fathers (and mothers) “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.” (Deu 6:6-9)
     Jesus was always ready for the teachable moments. Many of his lessons happened during the impromptu moments. Your lessons to your children also happen in the odd moments. You teach your children when you are riding in the car, shopping in a store, fishing in a river, or any of the other thousands of natural moments in life.
     Look for those teachable moments and make the most of them. Sometimes when my family and I would be riding in a car and hear an ambulance come blazing by with sirens screaming, I would say, “Kids we are not having a bad day.” Look for the teachable moments.
 

Quote

“He who knows enough is enough, will always have enough.”
– – Lao Tzu

Scripture: John 16:32c

“I am not alone, for my Father is with me.”
 

Quiz
1. Who were the first twins in the Bible?
2. On what special Jewish day did the church begin?
3. Who was the first Christian to die for his faith?

Resource: Wunderlist
Wunderlist is a free app that will work on all your devices (computer, smartphone, and tablet). Liz and I share one free account (you create it online). When we need something from the store, you can just put the item on Wunderlist. As long as you have your phone, you have your list. When one of us goes to the store, we open the phone and look at the list. Pick up the item. Touch the item on the list and it goes away. Very, very handy!

Funny
Me a procrastinator? I’ll prove you wrong someday. Just you wait and see.
 

Fact
Do you know what Jesus ate? He ate bread (Mat 26:26), lamb (Luke 22:15), fish (Mat 14:19), broiled fish (Luke 24:42-43), The Old Testament says he would eat curds (butter) and honey (Isaiah 7:15).

Quiz answers:
1. The first twins mentioned in the Bible were Jacob and Esau (Gen 25:24)
2. The church began on the day of Pentecost. (Acts 2).
3. The first Christian to die for his faith was Stephen (Acts 7:59-60).

October 21, 2016

Article – 5 Rules that WILL improve your Prayer Life

1. Make prayer a habit. 

Sometimes we don’t pray because we didn’t pray. Prayer never became a habit. It is amazing to see how Jesus built his habit. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35). When is the last time you rose before others and began your habit of prayer? It is placing such a priority on prayer that turns it into a habit.

2. Have an appointed time and place for your daily prayers. 

You can certainly pray while riding in your car or walking your dog, but these are not the mainstays of a great prayer life. If you don’t have an appointed time and place, it is not likely to become a habit with you. Life will rush in and the urgent things that happen will push out the important thing of prayer.

3. Use pen and paper in your prayer life.

Keep a note pad handy so you can jot down your thoughts. Throughout  the day things will come into your day that you know you need to remember in your prayer. You cannot trust you memory to keep up with all those things. You might even benefit by using a journal to write your thoughts after prayer. By keeping that journal you can study your own prayer life. I once talked with a spiritual person who told me that he spends two hours a day writing “love letters to God.” This was a habit of many years with him and he often went back over his “letters” and read the things he had already written to God.

4. Incorporate the short prayer into your life. 

Obviously you should have medium and long prayers. There are circumstances in life that require long conversations with God. Sometimes, however,  immediate circumstances require a quick prayer. When Nehemiah went before the king, the king asked him what was wrong. Before he answered, he prayed and then gave the king his answer. In the time the king asked the question till the time he answered the king, there would have only been time or a most brief prayer. (Nehemiah 2:1-5).

5. Learn to pray for both generic AND specific things. 

When you pray for your family, do not always say, “God bless my family.” Take the time to pray for specific needs of the individuals in your family. They will be blessed and the prayer will help you think about the needs of each family member.

Obviously there are many more guidelines, but I will close with one more that ought to be obvious to all Christians. To build a great prayer life, you must believe that God answers prayer. Unless you do, you will not build a strong, habitual, passionate prayer life. You may pray some out of a sense of ought, but it will be no deeper. If you do believe that God will answer your prayer, nothing will stop your prayer life. 

Lonnie Davis

Quote

“Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden,
but it is forbidden because it hurtful.”
– Benjamin Franklin

Scripture

“A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.” 
– Proverbs 15:1 

Quiz

1. Why is the Book of Acts called the Book of Acts?
2. What is the first thing that that Eve did for Adam?
3. What kind of material did God use to make clothes for Adam and Eve?

(For Answers see bottom)

Resource: Easton’s

My resource recommendation for this week is an app for your smart phone called “Easton’s.” It is an older Bible dictionary. It cost next to nothing and will be helpful to have with you at all times. In Bible class someone might ask a question about a person, place, thing, or word. Easton’s would be a good resource to have handy. Certainly there are better Bible dictionaries, but for the price and convenience, this is nice to have.

Humor

I always thought my neighbors were really nice people But then they put a password on their WIFI.

Bonus Humor: What is blue and smells like red paint. Answer: Blue paint. (Groan).

Fact

In George Washington’s day there were no cameras. One’s image was either sculpted or painted. Some paintings of George Washington show him standing behind a desk with one arm behind his back while others showed both arms and legs. Artist new that limbs (arms, legs, and hands) were very difficult to paint so they charged more to paint the arms and  legs is picture. From this fact comes the expression, “It will cost you an arm and a leg.

Answers to Quiz

1. The full name of the book is “The Acts of the Apostles.” Over time, for convinces sake, we shorted it to “Acts.” A better title for the book might be, “The Book of the Acts of Peter and Paul.” Most of the book is about these two men and their relationship with building the church.
2. The first thing Eve ever did for Adam was give him something to eat. (Genesis 3:6).

3. Adam and Eve made their clothes from fig leaves. (Gen 3:7). God made them clothes from animal skin. (Gen 3:21)

Article – 4 Rules for Handling Problems

 
There are people who do not have problems, but they all reside six feet under the ground. As long as we live we will have problems and face difficulties.

In the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 there are four rules for dealing with problems. (Mark 6).

Surrounded by people, Jesus and the disciples took a boat attempting to go to a secluded and private place. The crowds anticipated where Jesus was going and were waiting for him when he landed. Jesus had compassion for the people and did not send them away, but taught them.

As is true when listening a great teacher, the time flew by. It late so the disciples became concerned and asked Jesus to send the crowds away so they could get something to eat. There were 5,000 men (besides any women and children) stranded in a wilderness place who needed to eat.

By examining how Jesus solved this story, we can learn four rules for solving our problems.
 
Rule #1: CONFRONT your problem.
 
Confronting the problem was not the first impulse of the disciples. Notice their solution to the problem:

• “When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, ‘This place is desolate and it is already quite late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’ But He answered them, ‘You give them something to eat!’  And they said to Him, ‘Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?’”  (Mark 6:35-37).

The Disciples had two answers for the problem:
1.        Get rid of the problem by telling them to go away. Mark 6:35-36
2.        Throw money at the problem – John 6:7
 
Neither of those were real solutions, but they are often the favorite solutions of man. Jesus had a better idea – confront and deal with the problem.

Problems don’t get better by ignoring them. I’ve tried it and so have you. To solve a problem you have to confront the problem. You have to confront it, accept it, make a plan, and deal with it. If you don’t it will always be a problem.
 
RULE #2 – Don’t overlook the SIMPLE resources.
 
Notice the simple resources the disciples had.

• Jesus “said to them, ‘How many loaves do you have? Go look!’ And when they found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’” (Mark 6:38).

This was not nearly enough, but it was something. It was simple, but little is more than enough when God is in it. This is clear as the story continues.

• “They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish. There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.” (Mark 6:42-44).

When you face a problem, do not stare so long at the problem so that you miss even the simple resource that you have. This was the same truth seen in the story of  David and Goliath. The soldiers stared at the giant and thought they were defeated. David glanced at the giant and looked toward God and knew he and God could defeat the giant.

God can change your resources from “not nearly enough” to “more than I need.”

RULE #3 – Be THANKFUL in the midst of the problem

• While they only had five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus gave thanks. He “Took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated.” (John 6:11).
• When Jesus stood at the grave of Lazarus and before Lazarus was raised from the dead, Jesus prayed, “Father, I thank you…” (John 11:41).
• Paul urged the Thessalonians, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.” (5:16,18).

Any old heathen can be thankful when a problem is finally solved, but it takes a man or woman of faith to be thankful in the midst of the problem. We are thankful because we know that God has handled our problems before and will handle this problem too. Be thankful. You are not going through this alone.

RULE #4 – Do what you can and trust God with the rest.

The disciples knew there was no human way for this problem to be handled. This is why they counseled Jesus, “Send them away.” There was no human way, but Jesus knew something the disciples did not. He knew that we can do all we can and then trust God for the rest.

We may not like the way God handles the problem, but he always knows the right way. The end of God handling this problem was that they not only feed the thousands, they ended with more than when they began. They started with five loaves and two fish and ended with twelve baskets full of leftovers.

If you will tackle the problem using the simple resources you have and are thankful, God will do for you what you cannot do.
 
You will have your own baskets full of blessings.

 – Lonnie Davis

Quote

Atheism does not take away the pain.
Atheism takes away the hope!

Scripture – Philippians 4:6

“Do not be anxious about anything,
but in every situation,
by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.”

Quiz
1. How many apostles were there? (Answer is not 12)

2. Who is the oldest man in the Bible?

3. What is the longest chapter in the Bible?

(For answers see bottom)

Resource

www.biblehub.com is a wonderful resource for anyone who would like to study a book or verse of the Bible. It has more commentaries than most preachers have in their library. It contains all of the popular translations and many you have never heard about. I cannot tell you all the great things in this amazing site. Mark it and use it in your Bible study. To understand a little about how to use this great resource go to the YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCJl7GAAbLM
 
There are several other YouTube videos that will teach you more about this great site. Just do a YouTube search on BibleHub.

Humor

My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start.
So far today, I have finished 2 bags of chips and a chocolate cake.

I feel better already!

FACT

A survey by the Bible Society concluded that around 2.5 billion copies of the Bible were printed between 1815 and 1975, but more recent estimates put the number at more than 5 billion.

Answers to QUIZ

1. There was the original 12 apostles. Judas was replaced by Matthias (Acts 1:12-26). Later Paul was added as an apostle. That brings the total to 14.
 
2. The oldest man in the Bible was Methuselah. (Genesis 5:27). He lived to be 969 years-old.
 
3. The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalms 119 (176 verses)  The shortest chapter is Psalms 117 (3 verses).