Post Card #2

Have you ever been on a trip and realized that you missed something along the way that you knew you needed to see? So what do you do? You make a U-Turn and go back. This is what I just did – you see, my trip has been full of many distractions these past few weeks, and I missed something God wanted me to hear. It was Mark Altrogge’s message on Gratefulness, and I’m so glad that I took the time to go back! I needed to hear what he preached on this day in these circumstances.

How is it with your trip? Are you speeding along and missing important stops along the way? May I encourage you that the goal isn’t so much the trip as it is the journey! Take time to enjoy it, and when God prompts you to stop, even if you’re slow to hear requiring a U-Turn, do it. You’ll never know what God has for you if you speed along and miss God’s main “points of interest”. After all, this is the point isn’t it? Seeing and enjoying what He has for us along the route.

Enjoying the Journey!

Week 8 Assignments

I don’t know about you, but doing The Bible Speaks Today reading a little each day has been a bit disjointed for me. I end up having to read back over the previous days in order to remember the context of what I’m currently reading. I’ve decided to start reading the Hebrews Commentary portion of my devotions all the way through one morning (probably Monday) each week, and continue with my reading through the Old Testament the rest of the week. As a result I will post what our assignment is for the week on Sundays, and you can break it into daily readings yourself, if that format works best for you.

Thank you for your input through all of this. It has been a tremendous encouragement and blessing to travel this road with you!

Week 8

Read Hebrews 2:5-18;
Read Bible Speaks Today, pages 65-73

Week 7 Assignments


For those of you who are doing the “Through November” study plan, you may have noticed that I am behind in a week in our study. This is because last Sunday’s message was not included in the Hebrews series with Mark Altrogge preaching. We chose to read through the book “Worldliness” for the week. It proved to be very beneficial for me, and I hope for you as well.

So, this week’s assigned reading is actually listed as “Day 6” on your sheet, but for us it is Day 7. (Remember – we do one day a week!) If you are still confused, which I can certainly understand why you would be, please e-mail me and I’ll try to further clarify it for you. Thank you for your patience. I’ve never done anything like this before.

Week 7

Monday – Read Hebrews 2:5-18 and BST pages 53-54: Christ, Our Pioneer
Tuesday – BST pages 55-56 through b. Our Suffering Humanity
Wednesday – BST pages 56-58: c. Our Threatened Humanity
Thursday – BST pages 58-60: through a. God’s Wisdom
Friday – BST pages 60-62: through c. Christ’s Perfection
Saturday – BST pages 62-64: The Pioneer’s Achievement

Postcard From The Road


Good Evening Travelers,

Tom and I love to listen to oldies music when we take road trips. It adds nostalgia and fun to a long day on the road.

As I was reading in the book, “Worldliness” this morning, I was challenged by which radio station I’m listening to as I travel. I may think that music doesn’t have a negative effect on me because I don’t immediately take a dive spiritually, but I miss the truth that music does indeed influence me. It can cause my conscience to soften, my heart to harden and my affections to grow cold. It’s because that we don’t see an immediate change that we let down our guard and think it’s okay. But drifting however slow is still drifting.

In the same way we can make excuses why we don’t read daily in God’s Word because we don’t see any immediate benefits from it. We may think this daily discipline doesn’t really accomplish much because we don’t see any obvious changes. But how wrong we are. God has promised us that His Word NEVER returns void, but it accomplishes it’s purposes in us. What a glorious truth! Our feelings don’t matter, our perceptions don’t matter, and whether or not we sense a profound change in our lives doesn’t matter. God is at work in us as we travel this road.

So, turn your radio to a great worship channel and let’s enjoy the scenery as we continue down Route 66 – because it all matters!

Enjoying the Journey!

Week 5 and Week 6 Assignments


Good Afternoon Travelers! I pray your journey so far has been enjoyable. We have our first excursion coming up next week. An excursion is where we stop and get out of the car in order to stretch, look around and enjoy the specific place where which we find ourselves. On this excursion we’re going to hear from five men and their view on the world through which we’re traveling by reading a very special book that I highly recommend. It’s titled, Worldliness, and it’s compiled by CJ Mahaney. This will be our daily reading for next week (week 6). It is available in the church bookstore for $10-12, or online for $13.

Remember if you miss a Sunday service the messages are only a link away – see left hand column under Metro Life Church.

This week’s assignment is as follows:

Week 5
Monday – Read Hebrews 2:1-4 and BST page 46-47 through #1 – It’s Importance (The Gospel)
Tuesday – BST page 47 #2 – It’s Authority
Wednesday – BST page 48 #3 – It’s Exposition
Thursday – BST page 48-49 – It’s Reception
Friday – BST page 49-51 – It’s Effect, Section a & b
Saturday – BST page 51-52 – section c

Week 6 (Excursion Week)
Read Worldliness, compiled by CJ Mahaney.
Monday – Read Forward and Chapter 1 “Is This Verse In Your Bible?” by CJ Mahaney
Tuesday – Read Chapter 2 “God, My Heart and Media” by Craig Cabaniss
Wednesday – Read Chapter 3 “God, My Heart and Music” by Bob Kauflin
Thursday – Read Chapter 4 “God, My Heart and Stuff” by Dave Harvey
Friday – Read Chapter 5 “God, My Heart and Clothes” by CJ Mahaney
Saturday – Read Chapter 6 “How To Love The World” by Jeff Purswell

Over packed?

I don’t know about you, but this past month as I’ve preparing to set out on this road trip through the town of “Hebrews”, I feel I might have over packed. How often I do that when I’m not sure what I’m going to need on a trip, what the weather will be like or what the actual activities will entail. Since I’ve never done an in-depth book study of the Bible, I’ve certainly packed more than I ever have before.

Maybe you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by the unknowns of this trip. Please don’t give in to those feelings. Now that the journey has begun in earnest, we can slowly unpack all that we have. The best thing about this trip is that we actually have a “butler of sorts” to tell us what to use and when.

I have a feeling that I’m going to get used to having a butler who helps me unpack each day. I may never travel the same way again! So, lift your chins and let’s look for the Savior at every turn in the road. He’s promised He’ll always be with us.

Week 4 Assignment


If you missed Sunday service, be sure to listen to the message by Benny Phillips titled, He Was No Angel,from our Above All Else series. You’ll find the link in the left column under “Metro Life Church”.

There has been some confusion as to how to break down the study plan each week. I am going to provide a daily breakdown here in order to help us know what to do each day of the week. Feel free to read the way you want, but if you’re uncertain, I will break it down more specifically for you here. Plus, I am changing what Benny called “Day 1,2,3,etc.” to “Week 1,2,3,etc.). I hope this format helps and doesn’t cause further confusion!

Week 4: Februrary 1st

Monday – Read Hebrews 1:5-14, Read BST: Superior To The Angels, pg. 36 – 39.
Tuesday – Read BST: pg. 39 #1 His Superior Name, #2 His Superior Dignity.
Wednesday – Read BST: pg. 40 #3 His Superior Nature
Thursday – Read BST: pg. 41 #4 His Superior Role, #5 His Superior Example
Friday – Read BST: pg.42 #6 His Superior Work, #7 His Superior Achievement
Saturday – Read BST: pg. 43 #8 His Superior Destiny