B. A. D. (Be A Disciple) Student Ministries

Finishing the Bible in 90 Days.  Wow. Wow.  WOW!  We've done it. Everyone who even started the Bible at any point should be proud of themselves, and for those of you who've stuck with it over the past 88 days--congratulations. You've done it. You've read the word of God . Isn't that insane? And let me tell you, the planning behind the Bible is immaculate, it ended on just the right note. A bit of a kick in the rear-end, and a whole lot of encouragement.  So. Our final reading began with... the end. The fall of the world. Of all the sin, and sadness that holds us captive to this world.  And, just so we're clear, there's no reason to be afraid. There's one more horse with a rider. One coming on a white horse called Faithful and True. His name? The Word of God. I kid you not. That book we just read. God's Word . Is coming to save us all. And you've just read it! So keep your faith--we will be judged, but never forget that Christ d...

The Beginning of the End  Today, we begin the final book of the Bible: Revelation. But before that, we read Jude, which serves as a bit of a warning. It implores us all to remember that although God delivered His people from Egypt, He destroyed those who didn't believe. But we must build ourselves up in the mercy of Christ that was freely given to us. We must keep ourselves in God's love.  And so, Revelation begins.  I'd like to point out that the book of Revelation begins with a blessing for each person who reads it. So that should make you feel good about the past 86 days!  The first chapter is dedicated to describing Jesus in a different way--not by his actions, but by his spirit. He was. He is. And he is to come yet again. And he is alive for ever and ever.  In chapter 2, we get this amazing verse in 2:7-- Whoever has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, ...

Words of Wisdom  (Not from me) James finishes off with some more advice: Be patient when you suffer--and don't complain about one another! Our Judge is right at our door. Give yourself time to pray when you're down, and time to praise when you're up. Prayers filled with faith, righteousness, and strength are the most powerful weapon.  So then we move on to Peter, who begins his books with a great example of praise--just check out chapter 1.  Remember, Peter and Jesus were like best friends. Peter could have taken his books and written about all the cool things Jesus did, what he did for fun on the weekends, etc. But instead, he took his words and made an example of how to live a Christian life.  It mostly serves as a reminder to follow in Jesus's footsteps (tall order, right?), and let's people know that there will be suffering as a Christian--but if we're living for God, we've got more important things to focus on.  Then, we arrive ...

Finishing Strong!  I'd like to start with a brief explanation and apology for my weekend-long absence. Thursday night, while taking my dogs out on leashes to potty, my two sub-20 lb dogs were attacked by a dog which weighed 40 lbs more than I did. Both dogs are okay, though one did have to undergo surgery, but it was an extremely traumatizing experience for me, and I needed some time to decompress (and figure out how to take care of a post-surgery 11-yr-old dog, and entertain a puppy who's best friend is out of commission). All three of us are okay, and the attack could have gone very differently. I praise God for allowing us to get through it with comparatively minor damages. To those of you who knew, thank you all for your support, well wishes, and prayers.  Hebrews is a really interesting book of the Bible. And it basically does my whole job for me. It summarizes the entire Bible . (Okay well sort of. It summarizes the meaning of the Bible).  Pretty cool,...

Paul Talks to Corinth Only one week left in the challenge! Can you believe it?! The book of Romans ends with Paul explaining that he will eventually visit Rome in person, but that there are places who have no knowledge of Christ, and he has to go to try to save them. He leaves a little shout out to some of his friends to say hi, as well, which is actually super adorable. Then, he begins talking to the people of Corinth via the first letter--1 Corinthians. So the letter begins with a note of thanksgiving, but then quickly shifts into a few harsh words regarding the divisions among the church. I particularly like 1 Corinthians 1:12-13, where he's saying all the deities people have told them that they follow. Paul himself is one of them. Then he asks, "Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?" And I don't know I just think the sentence "baptized in the name of Paul" is hysterical. Paul goes on to mention ...

Romans Ah, Romans. I could talk about this book forever. I love every verse, and I'm only slightly embarrassed to admit that my highlighter was starting to run dry by the end of today's reading. Rather than creating a dissertation, I'll just focus on a few key points from today's reading.  You may have noticed that quite a bit of the first chapters focused pretty heavily on circumcision. The circumcision is a symbol of sacrifice (we'll talk about that later), and was also used to distinguished Jews from Gentiles. But when Christ came, there was no longer a distinction between Jew and Gentile, all are welcome to be saved by Christ. What is  still important is a circumcision of the heart. Cutting away all of the sin and negativity and evil within us, in order to make room for the Holy Spirit.  Romans 5:6-8 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, thou...

It Stands to Reason... One thing that I found interesting in today's reading is the disciples continued journey to spread the word of Christ. Can you imagine how unusual and awkward it must have felt for the disciples to walk into their former synagogues and say, "Hey, the entire religion has changed, let me tell you how."? One thing that it did say though, was that the disciples reasoned  when speaking with them. They didn't just tell them and leave. And they didn't try to shove Jesus down their throats. They reasoned  with them. And for the most part, it worked. If you think logically, about all the predictions that were made in the Old Testament, and then have lived to see all of them come true, it seems like reasoning would be the best option. Now, we haven't lived to see the prediction come through, that was before any of our lives. But we can still reason our way into belief. There's historical proof of Christ--he's written about beyond just t...

Who Were You Before Salvation? Today, I'd like to focus on just one story from Acts. The story of Paul, formerly known as Saul.  Jesus is back in heaven, and the disciples are going crazy--spreading the word of God and the good news of Jesus like it's keeping them alive (it is, by the way.) And a new disciple, Stephen, is on fire for God in a way you wouldn't believe. People are amazed at his devotion and love for the Lord--he is truly an inspiring man! He does, however, call out some people for resisting the Holy Spirit--their free gift of eternal salvation!  These people did not react well to this news, Saul was one of them. Their solution? Stone Stephen to death. Yikes. What's amazing here though, is that as Stephen is dying, with rocks being hurled directly at him, he prays. What did he say? "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Lord, do not hold this sin against them." He forgave his murderers in the midst of his own death! But that still not eve...

We Need to Talk about Pilate  Pilate--a man we've heard about over the last four books, but haven't really talked about. The man who chose Jesus's sentence. John gives us a bit more insight to the mysterious Pilate, and I'd like to discuss that a bit. See, Pilate actually realized  that there was no basis on which Jesus should be crucified, and when he tried to explain that, the people were having none of it. "Of course there is! He claims to be king, which is a disgrace to Caesar!" etc. etc. And Pilate begs Jesus to tell him anything that would save him, and Jesus says that this is all out of Pilate's hands. Pilate continued to try to set Jesus free, but no one was having it. He even said, "Really? You want me to crucify your king?" which was again met with, "We have no king but Caesar."  Remember that sign that they hung on Jesus? The one that said, "King of the Jews?" Pilate wrote that. And the people told him to...

Who Throws the First Stone?  Today I'd like to start out by talking about the first part of John 8. The people are trying to trap Jesus, and find a woman who has committed adultery. Remember way back to the Old Testament where it was said that anyone who has committed adultery must be stoned to death? That's the exact point the people bring up to Jesus. So they bring this woman, and stand her up in the middle of a circle of people (a la Jr. High School fight), and they say, "Hey, Jesus, this is what the book of Moses told us to do. What have you got to say about that?" They continued questioning him, but Jesus remained  quiet and wrote something in the ground with his finger. Finally, he stood up, and said, "Whoever is without sin may be the first to throw a stone." And he went back to writing on the ground. Slowly, the people began to leave. Jesus was the only one there without sin.  When everyone else had left. Jesus went to the woman, and said ...

He Came to Serve, Not to Be Served I think it's time, 3 out of 4 gospels complete, to take some time to reflect on Jesus's ministry.  1. He arrived in humility and left the same way.  How is it that a man, The Son of God, who came to save us all, could come from such a humble background? How is it that he was born in a manger and not in a castle? How is it that his crown was made of thorns, and not of precious metals and gems?  I believe it is to prove several points. 1. Through God anything is possible. 2. Faith has more value than wealth. 3. Your beginning does not matter, it does not determine who you are.  2. He came to serve, not to be serve.  Rather than taking people's wealth, creating rules, and demanding servants and aids as the Son of God (which he could have very easily gotten), he  served us.  He spent the Sabbath, the Holy Day, healing the sick, the injured, and raising the dead. That's nuts. He served the disciple...

What are you worried about? Lesson number one from today's reading: Don't sweat the small stuff. Luke 10 One of the key things I'd really like to discuss is the story of Mary and Martha. They were preparing for a visit from Jesus, and when he arrived, Mary stopped all the preparations and listened to everything Jesus said. Martha remained distracted, then said, "Jesus, my sister is leaving all the work to me! Tell her to help!" And Jesus simply tells her that she is worried about all the wrong things, and that Mary is concerning herself with what is important. I just think that that's a very beautiful and straightforward way of reminding us all to keep our eyes to Jesus. It doesn't matter what we have to offer him, our worldly possessions mean nothing. What matters is how we act on what we're called to do as followers of Christ.  Lesson number two: Worrying will never change the outcome.  Luke 12:22-34 We are told not to worr...

What does it mean to love the Lord? Luke goes much the way the past two gospels have gone, but we get a few side stories here and there.  We hear about Mary and Joseph losing Jesus (can you imagine their fear at losing the Son of God?!). But fear not! Jesus was found in the temple, hearing lessons and asking questions, hungry for knowledge of God. Mary and Joseph were like, "What are you doing?!" And Jesus is like, "It's okay, you should have known I would be at my Dad's!"  Then we see the Blessings and Woes. (Luke 6). To summarize, the poor, hungry, sad, and hated are blessed--because they will know true gratitude when their earthly troubles are relieved. But those who have everything, less so. They feel no need to be grateful, they've experienced great comfort in life.  There's a reiteration of a very important verse--Luke 6:37. "Judge not and you will not be judged. Condemn not and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and yo...

Who are you for?  In Mark 9:40 we are faced with a fact: "Whoever is not against us is for us." Whoever is not against the Lord is for Him. Believe in the resurrection, follow Christ's ways, believe in Him. And the Lord will make things possible (Mark 10:27)--so I ask you, who are you for?  In Mark 11 we see Jesus's triumphant entry into the city where he will later be crucified. The people are shouting, "Hosanna in the highest!" they're throwing down their robes and palm leaves and making a path for him. But remember, he's riding a donkey. Just like his "triumphant" entrance into the world (in a barn, in a manger) Jesus is a man for the people. He's not on a majestic white horse--he's on a donkey. And he still accumulated a following of people.  Then we go through the betrayal and denial and crucifixion and resurrection once again.  And we're brought into Luke chapter 1. Luke 1 goes into much greater detail a...

The Resurrection  In today's reading, we hear about the persecution, crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The Chapters we read in Mark today are primarily a retelling of the beginning of Matthew, so I'll cover those very briefly--because I'd like to spend some time talking about the resurrection and what it all means.  So we pick up after Jesus is taken prisoner. The people in charge question Jesus, and when he tells them that he is the Son of God, they say he's being blasphemous--and that his crime is worthy of death.  Remember that bit in the last supper when Jesus casually mentions his greatest disciple will disown him three times? And Peter vehemently denied it? Well that wasn't the only thing he denied. And thus, the prophecy became true.  Judas finally feels guilty for selling the life of the Son of God for 30 silver coins, and he does try to give it back and make it right, but the city says no. So Judas hangs himself from the gui...

How to Get Ready  You know how when you watch a really good movie and you try to explain it to a friend, but it's just too good? So you're like, "Okay, actually just go watch it for yourself. I'm doing it no justice."  That's how I feel with the past few readings. Who am I to summarize Jesus?? He says it best, himself. So I implore  you to read this. All of this. But if you're going to read anything, make it the New Testament. Life. Changing.  Rather than go through everything in today's reading, I'm going to just touch on a concept I think is very important.  We need to get ready.  It said in today's reading that no one will know when the second coming is. Not people. Not angels. Not even Jesus. The only one who knows is the Lord. It could be in 5,000 years, but it could be tomorrow. There's no way to know. So, what do we do? We spend time in the word and figure it out.  In Matthew 18, we get the parable of the U...

The Way to Be I don't even know where to begin with today's reading. There's so much I want to talk about, and it would take me weeks to do so. Instead, I'll hit on the main points that speak to me, and the ones I talk about most often. Our reading today starts out with the Beatitudes, and those on their own are magnificent. They are the sweetest combination of words. Read them in Matthew 5:3-12. Seriously. Read them. Do it right now.  @BAD Ministry Students, I told you that hate is the same as murder! Check it out in Matthew 5:21-22. It will give you a whole new perspective. For those of you who do not frequently hear my big long boring speech whenever someone says they "hate" another person, here's the Cliff notes version:  When you say you hate someone, that is the same as killing them in your heart. You have murdered them from your soul and to God, that is the equivalent of murdering their body.  Then we get the "turn the ot...

A Journey through the New Testament Just twenty days left in the Challenge, can you believe it?! (It is only an 88 day challenge, after all.) So today we finished up the Old Testament with Zechariah and Malachi and began the New Testament in Matthew.  The end of Zechariah and all of Malachi are specifically geared towards the end of days. The downfall, the judgement, and the coming of the Lord. You can read all about it in those chapters--they're very brief, because I'd really like to focus on Matthew today.  Matthew begins with Jesus's family tree--he came from such great names as David, Solomon, and Hezekiah. It then (very briefly) touches on Jesus's birth. Now, I was expecting this to be a much longer story (like the many Christmas sermons most of us have heard) but it was super short. What this tells me, personally, is that it doesn't matter where you came from, or what your circumstances are. What matters is what you do with your life. So Jes...

Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, and Zachariah The book of Habakkuk is slightly different than the other prophets. Here, we have Habakkuk, the prophet, approaching God. He comes to him with several complaints, mainly, that God isn't doing enough to punish His people, which is why they continue with their sin. And God tell Habakkuk not to worry, He has a plan. And it's so awesome, Habakkuk wouldn't even understand it. He also reassures him that God sees the difference between the faithful and unfaithful.  It may seem out of character to question God, it may have crossed the minds of some of you that those who question God haven't exactly fared well. But in Habakkuk 3, we see that Habakkuk had the utmost faith in God, and put all of his trust in Him.  Basically, it's okay to question God, to ask what's going on? But its important to keep faith, and to trust in the Lord. Because He has a plan, and His plan is good.  Zephaniah, a descendant of Hez...