2016

Update and 2016 Prayer Challenge Final

/ RB May IV / Leave a comment

Well everyone, today I am bringing you the final update on my 2016 Prayer Challenge which I undertook last year. It was 366 days which taught me so much. The Lord really showed me so much through out my days of prayer. The very fist thing I learned is the blessings which come from being proactive in our relationship with God rather than reactive. This was so important because most of the time our relationship with God is reactive, something happened so we pray about it.

When this dynamic changes and we enter a paradigm where we are being proactive (actively seeking God first) we start to see how this relationship edifies every part of our lives. I am hoping to scan the 366 days worth of prayer journal entries, but am not making any promises. I’ve also apologize I know in the original post about the challenge I am supposed to type up the entries and post them as a PDF, but after trying I have come to realize I just really don’t have the time.

The other things which I learned was how vast the chasm is between the trials we go through and how we view those trials. I went through some hard times with friends this last year and through the prayer life I had with the Lord this last year I was able to thank Him for the blessings I was receiving as I grew through these trials. My friends were viewing the problems totally as negative, but I was able to look at the positive, because the Lord opened my eyes.

I have a few updates on the projects which I am working on: Breath of God Ministries is coming under the leadership of Believe Better Ministries. This does not mean the goal for BOG Ministries is going to change any, but rather it will just be under the headship of Believe Better Ministries, who will hold the publishing rights to the BOGV.

I am continuing hard at work with my study of the word and the production of the BSB Commentary series and am hoping to finish 1 – 3 John this year. This would finish off the first volume in the series. (1 John – Jude).

We are also still collecting stories from those who wish to participate in the Experiencing Something Better. We look forward to hearing from you all.

That is all for now we hope you all had a good January and February!

—
RB

Christmas Thought – 2016

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Christmas has come upon us again. As people begin the celebration of this season, whether they are celebrating one form or another, many people ask “What’s the reason for the season?” Personally, I don’t celebrate what is traditionally considered “Christmas”, but I typically end up celebrating “Easter” twice a year. To me Christmas is and what it stands for (the birth of Christ) doesn’t have very much meaning.

I do not mean Christ’s birth is meaningless, I only mean His birth only has meaning if He did what the Gospels say He did. This is true across religions even. Muslims believe in the virgin birth, they believe in His miracles, and in fact they ascribe more powers to Jesus then do the Gospels. They do not, however, believe in His death and resurrection, which makes His birth meaningless to them except as a story of mythic proportions. Easter, or the event we celebrate at Easter, is the only thing which brings purpose to Jesus’ birth.

As far as importance goes we also can look at the New Testament for dates. The NT is very clear on the day in which Jesus was crucified, but it doesn’t give the slightest clue as to when He was born (except for it wasn’t winter). This points us to the importance of events. Something else which allows us to see importance is how often are the events repeated across the four Gospels. The traditional Christmas story is only put down in two of the four Gospels, but the death and resurrection is written about in all four Gospels. (By this logic Christ’s ministry and the events which took place during His ministry are more important than His birth.)

So as you celebrate Christmas take a moment to reflect on the reason for the season, and note it is not Christ’s birth which makes it so important, but what He did for us which does so. I hope you all have a merry Christmas this year.

Easter Thought – 2016

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Every year as we approach Easter I feel a sense of awe filling my heart. For so many Christmas is the “Holiday Season” or the “Season of Joy” but for me (someone who did not grow up celebrating Christmas) Easter was always more special than Christmas. Yes I know of the pagan origins of Easter and how it was moved to coincide with the resurrection, but I also know my Lord was resurrected and tradition tells me it was on this day.

We get so caught up in traditions, though, we forget this simple fact. We forget to celebrate the greatness of the day. Sure many of us go to an Easter service and listen to a sermon about the importance of His resurrection, but do we really take a step back and look at it? Do we really celebrate the wondrous meaning of Jesus’ resurrection? Jesus died for our sin, once and for all. He died for all sin yesterday, today and tomorrow. All the sin of the all the world is blotted it out by Jesus’ blood. That is an amazing and gracious thing He did for us. Now, though, Jesus rose from the dead to go to the Father so we may also go to the Father and live eternally with Him.

Drink this in for a moment.

Jesus not only gave His life for us; He rose so we may have life! Every time I start to think of the events of this time I’m speechless. The scourging, beating, and then being hung on the cross – the worst way to be killed in history – all of this and why? So He could cover our sins with His blood and then rise again to take us home to be with Him forever. Who can say they love you more than this? Who would totally give their lives in the most painful way possible in order to secure your eternal destiny?

When you really look at the end of Jesus earthly life how can you not cry for joy or feel the complete love God feels for you? God came here to earth in the form of Jesus not just to teach us a new law or make a new covenant with us, but to give Himself in our place!

Focus on this during Easter this year, not the traditions or other things we, as humans, have added into celebrating the Lord’s resurrection, but truly celebrating His resurrection.

Happy Easter Everyone!

A New Year’s Thought – 2016

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2016 is upon us. A lot has happened to me over this last year. I have changed some goals in my life and made some important new ones, but really my thoughts at the New Year always turn to the past. I said the same thing last year. “Is the year really over?” I think to myself. Yes it is and I should glorify God in that not complain how fast the time is starting to go. Time speeds up as you get older because so much more of it is already in the past, but the Lord knows this and takes us through it.

We should be looking forward to His glorious return! That is where our eyes should be fixed. Maybe this year, maybe this very month or maybe, even, today He will return. This is where our focus should be. Otherwise the Lord said that the day shall come as a thief in the night. To that end I want to keep my focus not only on the future but on God. I want every iota of my focus on God throughout the whole day, every day.

A friend of mine challenged me with something that is apparently going around the Christian Blogosphere: “The 365 Prayer Challenge”. (For 2016 that will have to be “The 366 Prayer Challenge”.) The challenge is one that no blogger would misunderstand write 365 (or 366 this year) prayers out. One for each day. At the end of the year post them in either a PDF or some other downloadable format, or straight to the blog. This challenge is to keep your focus on God throughout the whole year of 2016.

I want to do it. I want to keep my focus on God 24/7/366 for the year of 2016. I am also challenging you out there in the Blogosphere and Podosphere. Write down a prayer every day, there is no length requirements, just pray. I will be posting mine as a PDF attached to my New Year’s thought for 2017.

Let’s make 2016 the year of Prayer!

Quick Update for Newsletter – Prayer Requests

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I just have a quick update for the Newsletter. This update is about prayer, more specifically prayer requests. We, at Believe Better Ministries, are always open to praying for you when ever you want us to. That being said we would also like to open it up to the rest of the Community that has started following our Blog and those who have already signed up for the Newsletter.

If you ever have a prayer request feel free to e-mail it to us at BelieveBetter[dot]Ministries[at]gmail[dot]com we will always pray for you! If it is a more of a confidential prayer request, feel free to tell us so. If it is even more confidential but you still would like prayer you can always e-mail me, RB, and I will pray for you. You can e-mail me at BelieveBetter[dot]89[at]gmail[dot]com.

But again we want to open this up to the community and spread the prayer. If you haven’t signed up for the newsletter yet, you can do so by clicking the link on the right at the top of the sidebar. And over the next two months (because our first issue is coming out in January) we will be collecting prayer requests to go out to everyone who subscribes.

Thank You!

__
RB

Upcoming Plans

/ RB May IV / Leave a comment

Hello everyone, from Believe Better Ministries!

As we come up on Thanksgiving (in the United States) and Christmas there are a lot of things that I am currently working on. The first thing that comes to mind is the Christmas Thought for this year. I am planning on making it a tradition that I post a Thought (more information on exactly what that means later) for New Years, Easter and Christmas – at least – any other Thoughts will be posted but those three days will get special thoughts. (Some years they may not be thoughts but full essays, we’ll see.)

I am continuing through my punch list of things that I am working on. This includes Ruth, Jude and all the others on my list. I’ve also got a few new things in the pipes for the upcoming year. The first of which is the Believe Something Better Newsletter. This is the premier newsletter from Believe Better Ministries and will be coming out monthly. It will either be at the end or beginning of the month (that is to be decided later) and it will feature articles that have already been posted or new articles Thoughts as well as poems and other nuggets. One thing that is on my heart is prayer and I am hoping to have a section in the newsletter where we can include prayer requests. I will be praying for them and I hope other readers will be as well. The first issue of this will be coming out in January but you can sign up now by clicking the link over on the right had side of the page.

This links to the second new thing coming down the pipes for 2016 and that is the Believe Something Better Podcast. This will be a monthly podcast that will feature similar content to the Newsletter but will be rolled out more like a radio show. I plan to have as much content being put into your hands as possible. I have ideas going into the recording for the first episode already.

Finally on the agenda for this post is that Believe Better Ministries is looking for volunteers. We are looking for editors for works that will be coming down the pipes in the future, as well as (possibly) producers for the podcast, and we would are looking for someone to take over the formatting and publishing the newsletter. If you feel called to any of these positions – remember that they are volunteer positions – please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Believe Better Ministries through e-mail at BelieveBetter.Ministries@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you. (On a side note as I am connected with Breath of God Ministries I know that they are currently looking for volunteers as well you can e-mail them at TheBOGMinistries@gmail.com to find out more information.)

Finally: What is a Thought? A Thought is what I am calling a short writing (or micro essay) that I have made on any given subject. It could be something that I write a longer piece on later or it could be something that I’ve already written on but have a new idea. Really it is what I am calling my little ramblings and ideas that come to me as I study the word of the Lord.

Thanks!

––
RB May IV
Leader of Believe Better Ministries