Crisis of Belief leads to an Eye-Opening Discovery
Like many, I had a crisis of belief in my freshman year of college. A pre-law student pitted my beliefs against another student with different beliefs. Could I prove my beliefs? I couldn’t, and it shook me to the core. Just what did I believe and why? I read my Bible often and attended church every week and many times more. I discovered my beliefs were what our minister told us. Was Christianity even real? Was religion just a way of controlling people? No, I saw Jesus live in the lives of other people, and he lived in my life, too.
But it distressed me–I couldn’t defend my faith from the Bible. In anguish, I fell down on my knees, sobbing. Then, I looked up, lifted my hand and cried out, “LORD, this I believe: You are the Son of God, and you died and rose again to save me!” (John 3:16) The Holy Spirit flooded my soul, giving me joy and peace.
Searching for Answers
As I got up from my knees, I said, “Now, Lord, let’s begin again.” From that moment onward, I studied the Bible voraciously. If someone told me this is what God says, I listened, and if the Bible confirmed it, I adopted it, but if not, I put it on the back burner, so to speak. I was cautious and suspicious of everything a preacher or Bible teacher said.
The next year, I transferred to a Bible college. After graduating, I could easily defend my faith. However, there were some things in God’s Word I couldn’t understand, particularly how the prophets and kings fit together. I didn’t understand the messages of the prophets until I started reading the Bible chronologically.
That was an eye-opening experience. Now I understood why the prophets wrote what they wrote and to whom. Now, I saw the heart of God that still amazes me today. I understood what the prophets were getting so excited about and the seemingly inexhaustible patience of God before he finally took action. And after all that, he talked about restoration…are you kidding me? Wow!
I got so excited about what I learned, I wanted to teach others the Bible chronologically and relate it to their lives, too.
A Spiritually Rewarding Opportunity
In 2008, I searched for a Bible study to accompany the Chronological Bible. I wanted it for my use and for those of my students. I searched in bookstores and the internet but could not find one. Then, the Lord spoke to my heart to write the Bible studies myself. This was a daunting task, bigger than I could ever have imagined; the thought of writing 365 Bible studies was overwhelming! God reminded me he had given me the ability to do this, however, so I had no excuse. Every day has been a faith journey as I rely on his help rightly dividing the Word of Truth and being faithful to God and the messages found in his book, the Holy Bible.
If you have profited by these studies, praise the LORD! Since 2011 we have reached close to 500,000 visitors from English speaking countries around the world. What blesses me the most is when I get an email from a pastor in a third world country who doesn’t have much other access than the resources we provide for free. It also blesses me when young and old can understand these Bible studies, and the many lives it has changed. Would you like to be a part of that?
Although this is not yet a registered non-profit ministry, your donation would offset the costs of hosting the site and promoting it. Large donations or many small donations could also fund improvements in the website looks and operation. After that, the Bible studies could all be put in audio format and in other languages. Would you like to give to this ministry? It’s an opportunity to make these Bible studies available for more people.
