"You Are Going To Hell, My Friend"

 I'm not talking to you in that title. That is my conscience talking to me.

The other day, the thought popped into my head about whether or not I could only think I am saved.

Hmmm...

That's a thought that will keep you up at night. It sure did cause me to toss and turn. I immediately started checking some resources. I was so frantic that I went online and literally typed into the search: "can you only think you are saved". No question mark needed. 

After checking a couple of overly reassuring pages, I added "Got Questions" to the search and several choices popped up. I chose this one If you doubt your salvation, does that mean you are not truly saved?

I read it, re-read it, printed it out, and read the hard copy, and underlined some parts. The gist of it is:

• Belief alone is not enough. Even demons believe.
• Belief and faith are different things.
• If we have saving faith (belief), we won't willfully continue to sin.
• We will still sin because, well, we are human. As Chuck Missler put it, we are "born this way" and "S-I-N- positive"
• The point is: do we struggle with our sin? (I wasn't struggling with this one particular sin; it was a part of my daily life. I set time aside for it!)
• True belief transforms us from one who happily sins to one who struggles against sin.

So...

I sent an email to end a sort of relationship that I know is not right or honest (none of your business!) and then prayed right then and there for forgiveness and strength. I know that I am going to need to examine my life every now and then.

I am going to continue my Bible studies but, in place of the particular sin I mentioned giving up, I will be using that time to pray about any other sin I am possibly wallowing in.

I just wanted to share this and I hope that you share that Got Question link with everyone you know. I don't want any of us to end up in the Lord, Lord situation. You know, this one:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven..."

The fact that I could have died in my sleep, still in my willing and continual sins, hurts my heart. And it was a warning I needed.

Peace

--Free

Why I Returned the Wiersbe Study Bible NKJV

I was originally going be doing this big review of the Wiersbe Bible. As it turns out, I will mostly be reviewing my KJV Study Bible and what I look for in a study Bible. And I might as well tell you now that I packed up the Wiersbe Bible back up the same day I got it. I only needed to look at a couple of pages to know that it is not the study Bible for me. 

These are the photos I snapped quickly (because I didn't want to crease any pages):

It is a beautiful Bible but, other than a soft and pliable cover, I am not picky about the outside of them.

Comes with two ribbons, btw

Not tabbed at all

Now, this is the first important part...

The font is lighter & more difficult to read.

That was the first thing that put me off. Remember, this was supposed to be in LARGE PRINT. Nope. It wasn't. And because I sent this back and am expecting a refund, I made sure to save this:

As I said in another post, I wanted the NKJV because I hoped to get something easier on my brain than my KJV Study Bible. It's been my companion book for over 16 years, but I no longer have the ability to deal with the old English pronouns. I love my NASB Study Bible for bedtime reading but I prefer the poetic flow of the NKJV. 

This is my old Bible and some of what I love about it. For one thing, those thumb tabs...

The Wiersbe has no thumb tabs but I knew that. However, like I mentioned, not only was the print not "large" but it is also much fainter than that in my KJV as you saw in that previous photo. Since it's hard to imagine how that looks to me in person, let me emphasize it:

Is it me or is the Wiersbe's font even smaller???

Now, my KJV Study Bible is not featured as having large print. When I got it way back in 2004, I wasn't wearing glasses or contacts. I can see it much better than I could the Weirsbe. So, back it went. UPS picked it up this morning, thank goodness

I am still on the hunt for a Study Bible (NKJV) but for now, I am using my other Bibles.  Here are the ones I have that I will be comparing in my next post.

• King James Study 
• Amplified Bible
• New American Standard Study
• One-Year NIV

After you see the next post, I would love to know if any of you know of a Bible that meets my needs. I am sure you won't because I also need the Bible to be in the under-$50 range.

Peace

--Free

Bible Study for Beginners (Like Me)

Good evening, all. I'm Trudy - long-time Christian, first-time student...

Since I started my doing more Bible study, I am picking up on things like a baby picks up on learning to walk and talk. Now that I have started reading and studying, I can't seem to get enough. However, I really am like a child who is learning to take one wobbly step at a time. I want to keep sharing what I pick up on from day to day.

I recently talked about discovering the "Helps" at the front of my KJV Study Bible (Thomas Nelson 135BG). Let me tell you, those are truly helpful. Since I kind of went over those in that post, in this one, I wanted to cover a couple other things.

Now, I have the KJV Study Bible that I am talking about here and I have a NASB Study Bible that does not have nearly as many "Helps" as does the KJV.  Tomorrow, the Wiersbe NKJV Study Bible should be delivered. I will review that one in a separate post. What I want to point out is that not all Study Bibles have the same "Helps" and notes, of course. But by telling you about the ones I am seeing in different Bibles, you can at least go look up the information online. For instance, this next "Help" I am going to tell you about is something I never even thought to Google or ask about. So, here goes.

 Introduction to Doctrinal Footnotes

This is a screenshot from online of exactly what is shown in that section in my own Bible - down to the page numbers. You can find the text and read some of it here on Google Books so credit to them. 

I was almost ready to advise you to Google the various sections but too much information from questionable sources out there. I don't want to have an SDS or JW follower showing me anything about biblical doctrine. However, if you don't have a study Bible, you can use resources from:

1. Blue Letter Bible - there is a "Study" tab that leads to various free resources. 

They have free  Blue Letter Bible Institute courses in a range of categories that I can't wait to explore for myself. (That link might redirect you to the course page.)

2. Bible Study Tools has a place on the site where you can compare various translations. 

3. On Bible Gateway you can look up passages from a selection of translations for free and a paid membership gives you more access. The free resources are plentiful and I like that there is a selection of reading plans and Bible apps for reading and for audio.

4. Got Questions has a search engine where you can ask almost anything and get good results. Try it when you can't find a resource elsewhere. I love that, for almost every answer, they include other sources to check out.

5. YouTube - As mentioned, be discerning when searching for resources, but YouTube has so many useful videos and channels to choose from. I like John Ankerberg, John Kostik (who does a lot of Hebrew word studies) and, of course, the dear late Chuck Missler of Koinonia House. By the way, there is a channel that has many playlists of Missler's teaching videos. 

6. Speaking of Missler, Koinonia House has Bible Study arm called Koinonia Institute. Fair warning: The K.I. is for serious study. VERY serious. For those just wading in and want to get an idea of how intense these study lessons are, first check out some of the videos I just linked to.

 I would also like to mention that my blog post here points to a lot of resources.

When I was searching for a good study Bible, I came across the Foundation Bible. I am only going to provide the Amazon link because of their handy "Look Inside" feature. It comes in various translations and I found it online also at Walmart for a bit cheaper in price. One reviewer mentioned that he thought it was perfect for "beginners" because the notes are "very basic". This is a snippet of the way it's set up:

The one thing I look for in a Bible - whether for studying or just daily reading - is the font size. That's is so important. If you are like me and have "aging" eyes, look for something called "comfort print". I learned that Zondervan uses it too but I first noticed it on the Thomas Nelson site showing a comparison.

My KJV Study Bible is from Thomas Nelson and it must be comfort print because it's really easy on the eyes. I can't wait to see the Wiersbe Bible which is supposed to be in "Clear and readable 10.5-point NKJV Comfort Print®", thank heavens.

As I think I mentioned, I will try to review the Wiersbe Bible in a later post - with photos - but I hope that, for now, this post was helpful. The important thing about Bible study is to start somewhere. And always pray before reading or studying. That's key.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: Forgive any errors. I was trying to get this written and done with so I can explore the new study Bible when it comes tomorrow. Can't wait to review that one for you all!