But where do we get our directions when our desired destination is Heaven? Many look to their preacher or their pastors to get the information they need. In the Lord’s church this is often a valid method, but even within the body of Christ we should check out the information and validate it for ourselves:

When we are outside of the body of Christ, looking to man for direction is dangerous beyond measure. If one were to ask a false teacher “the way to Heaven”, they would get a multitude of answers – none of which would be correct.

That brings us back to the essence of today’s blog post. None of us should simply take our preachers “word for it”. When a preacher or teacher makes a claim, they should be able to back up that claim with the Bible, the Word of God.

Jas 3:1  My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.

The word “masters” here is the Greek word didaskalos and means an instructor or teacher. The reason these teachers shall receive greater condemnation is because of the great responsibility of teaching the truth.

Let us hold our preacher/teachers accountable for their teaching, and let us always work to help our teachers see any error that they may be promoting. By doing so we can strengthen the body of Christ and keep our Bible study and worship services pure and holy.

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Now, I understand this may not apply to everyone reading this article, but I do think it applies to me more often than it should. Too often we fail to read our Bibles daily, too often we go though slumps in our study, too often we put the things of the world ahead of the things that concern God (and thus our eternal life).

Think about your media viewing habits for a minute (T.V., books, YouTube, etc.). Do you make more time for television or YouTube than you do Bible study? Do you read more worldly books than books concerning God? If you say “yes” to this question I do not think you are alone. In fact I think that we all face this to some extent. We all sometimes let our earthly interests outweigh Godly interests.

So how can we solve this? Well, I think it starts with taking just a small action towards the Godly and away from the worldly. This is a complicated topic, but here are a few steps I think will help:

• Set aside time to read and study the Bible each day.
• Attend all of the church services that you can.
• Learn to “love” theology, and yes, apologetics (the defense of God’s Word). Apologetics is becoming more and more important as we engage with more agnostic/atheistic secular people in our daily lives.
• Push worldly things aside whenever possible. Whether it be the television or the internet. Begin to push away the worldly and embrace the things of the Lord.
• I also believe that prayer is often overlooked and that we should all pray for God to help us to keep our interests in the correct (and proper) order.

Finally, remember that this is a process. It will take time to develop new habits and interests. Still, I believe if we dedicate ourselves to the development of these new “Godly” interests our lives will be much richer both now and eternally.

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I was blessed enough to teach class last Wednesday night at Berea church of Christ. We discussed many things during the course of the lesson, but one of the most important was the fact that we don’t have to jump from 0 to 100 in our spiritual (or even physical) lives. I used to say (when I was a personal trainer) that “any movement is an improvement”. I still hold to this.

We all have the ability to improve spiritually but it is just so hard to get going! Getting started is the hardest part of achieving a goal. So, what is the solution?

In that Wednesday night class I put forth that one could start reading the Bible simply by reading one verse a day. Any movement (as long is it is forward movement) is an improvement. Maybe you can handle a chapter a day, five minutes a day, or maybe you are advanced and can engage in long study sessions. Any of these work as long as we aren’t “going backwards” and falling away from our good spiritual habits.

Remember, this isn’t just about Bible study. This applies to other areas of your spiritual life as well. Maybe you need to stop doing something. Maybe you need to add in more evangelism. Maybe you want to attend more services. The list is endless (we all need improvement in many areas).

So, this week’s blog is short and sweet and it encourages you to ask yourself just a few simple questions. Are your habits moving you towards Christ or away from Him? Are you improving or falling away? Are you growing spiritually or shrinking?

I think we all need to ask ourselves these questions from time to time and we all need to make sure our spiritual priorities are in the right order. After all, if we aren’t moving (forward) we aren’t improving! Thanks so much for reading and I’ll talk to you again soon.

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2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

As Christians we know that we need to read the Bible, yet for most of us this seems a daunting task. Many of us can’t seem to find the time in the day to perform this essential study (yet all of us would agree that Bible study is infinitely important).

That leads us to an age-old question – why is there such a profound human tendency for procrastination? Is there any way that we can overcome this tendency? I think there is, but I also think that it takes an effective strategy of scheduling and habit building for most people (including me) to accomplish this feat.

Our reasons for procrastination are almost limitless and while some of them are actually pretty legitimate, others are not. Our lives today are busier than ever before. Social Media, T.V., text messages, email, family issues, our jobs, babysitting, cooking, sports, after school activities; all of these tend to rob us of free time and encourage procrastination.

In the past I have been very prone to procrastination and in many ways I still am. Fortunately, I recently found a method that has helped me bypass procrastination (at least a lot more often) and better accomplish the tasks that I seem to always put off.

The strategy that I’ve been using over the past year to get things completed more effectively is called “time-blocking”. I learned this technique from a book called Deep Work by productivity author Cal Newport. Basically, you take your day and block out specific times to do certain activities. If you don’t block out (and thus set aside) the time for a given activity, you are very likely to skip doing that activity.

If your plan is to “read the Bible sometime today”, you will likely fail in that task – and even if you do succeed you will likely be unable to keep up the habit. Time blocking encourages you to block out the exact time on your schedule for a given activity (like Bible study). That means literally blocking out the time on a schedule and adhering to that schedule no matter what (barring an emergency).

Be sure to choose a time that is typically free on your daily schedule. It also helps to have a ritual that you place before your study to let your mind know its time for the activity. Maybe your ritual could be taking a walk, or getting a cup of coffee before you sit down with your Bible. Whatever your ritual is, your mind will begin to associate this “trigger” with the fact that it is time for Bible study, and that will help reinforce your habit.

How much time should you block out for study? I would recommend starting small, about fifteen minutes if you don’t currently read the Bible daily. Plan to read one chapter slowly and sit and ponder over each verse. Personally, I’m not a big fan of reading the Bible quickly (I’ve done it) because the Bible is a complex document that requires deep thought.

Over time you can build up the length of your study sessions, but I believe it is best to initially start with baby steps. By starting small you can begin to build up “little wins” that will engrain the habit of Bible study into your life. One thing is for certain, if you set aside time daily to study God’s Word your life on earth (and in eternity) will be enriched beyond measure.

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