BIBLICAL DISCIPLESHIP MINISTRIES

2212 Chisholm Trail, Rockwall, TX 75032   972-771-0568

Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory,

For thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.

Psalm 115:1

The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.

Psalm 126:3

What shall I render unto the lord for all his benefits toward me?

I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.

Psalm 116:12, 17

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

I Thessalonians 5:18

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with Psalms.

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hands are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Psalm 95:2-8a

“Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”  (Romans 5:20)

This is the time of year that Americans set aside to reflect on the blessings of God which have been showered on us in the previous year.  All other holidays, even Christmas and Easter, can be skewed into a non-Christian meaning, but not Thanksgiving. Historically, Thanksgiving was a time to give thanks to God for the bountiful harvest. While there are those to whom we should give thanks for particular favors, there is only One to whom we can give thanks for the blessings of life. Nothing else makes sense.

Christians, of course, have much more for which to give thanks than the non-believer, or at least they have the eyes with which to see and the heart with which to recognize God’s blessings.  Indeed, Paul instructs us that “In every thing [we should] give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (I Thessalonians 5:18), the tense of the verb implying a habitual, continual thanksgiving.  Unfortunately in our culture, even in Christian circles, we sometimes struggle with thankfulness as we have been so inundated with the politically correct attitude of “entitlement” and thanklessness.  Everything we have is from the hand of God and we should, even in our suffering or inconvenience, be thankful for the blessings of life and ability to serve our God (The Lord Jesus Christ) with the gifts and talents with which He has blessed us.  An unthankful heart is a proud heart that chooses not to acknowledge the blessings of the Almighty but still desires the blessings of God’s grace.

We should be specifically thankful for His grace which, as explained in our text, completely overwhelmed our sin, and brought salvation and freedom from guilt (Romans 5:20, above).  “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8).

Note that in our text the word “abound” appears three times.  Both the offense and sin exist in abundance. But the abundance of grace comes from a different Greek word which means literally “to exist in superabundance.” But there is more. It is further modified by the prefix “much more,” implying a grace that is beyond superabundance.  As we see the American dream and our freedoms rapidly being eliminated, this grace can allow us to have joy and be thankful even in a time unprecedented in the history of the United States of America where our leadership totally ignores the National Day of Prayer yet lavishly celebrates Halloween.

At this special time of year let us not be dissatisfied and discontent with the blessings of the Lord, but have diligence in the opportunities of the moment and joyful anticipation of the blessed hope of things to come in the life of the believer.    In light of these times in which we live, let us be steadfast, immovable and continue to abound in the work of the Lord—for His glory and praise! (Selections and additions/paraphrases, ICR Days of Praise, Nov. 2006)

***PLEASE JOIN WITH US IN GRATITUDE AND THANKSGIVING FOR THE 25^TH ANNIVERSARY OF

 BIBLICAL DISCIPLESHIP MINISTRIES***

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:3-6

That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.   Colossians 1:10

We are so grateful for the prayers and financial support of all of you who have invested in the work of Biblical Discipleship Ministries over these past, actually 28 years now. BDM was “birthed” out of Didasko Ministries back in the early 80’s while we were still in seminary. God has graciously given us all of you as co-laborers in this ministry of evangelism and discipleship that has outreaches around the world.  We are thankful for the opportunities to speak on the various areas of Worldview, Family Relationships, Discipleship, New Age Cults, Bible Prophecy, and the Creation/Evolution issues.  The materials God has enabled us to produce by His grace are being used to promote a biblical basis for the Christian worldview, especially in the areas of Family and the Creation/Evolution debate (The Evolution of a Creationist, (book and DVD series),  Incredible Creatures That Defy Evolution series and the  new Creation Proclaims series).  We have survived home school, heart stents, back problems, book writing (five foreign languages), video filming, learning Power Point, maintaining our sanity through Taryn and Mirren’s doctoral programs in history, travel that can many times take us on the road for almost three weeks out of the month, a busy guest house, the continued challenge of keeping house, cars, and yard, and the greatest challenge of having a spirit that is willing, but an “earthly tent” that is weak.  We so thank the Lord that His grace is sufficient and that His power continues to be perfected in our weaknesses.  Please continue to uplift us in prayer.  Nothing is more encouraging to us than to know that we are being prayed for on a regular basis.  Please pray specifically for the completion of this current Creation Proclaims series. We pray that your prayers and monetary investments will bring eternal glory for our Lord.

TO GOD ALONE BE ALL THE GLORY!

Schedule: November/December 2009

Nov. 1^st: Northwest Christian Church, McKinney, TX, Creation Evangelism, The State and “Stats” of our Children.

6^th: Leave for Wisconsin

7^th: Richland Center Fellowship, Cazenovia, WI, (608-983-2686)

8^th: Berean Bible Church, Pelican Rapids, MN, Biblical Defense of Genesis, “What is Truth, Defending the Faith.”

10^th: Rockwall Bible Church, Bible Prophecy Conference,  Preterism and First Coming Prophecies:  972-771-6179

13,14: Institute in Creation Research conference, First Baptist, Dallas, TX, (Attendees)

15^th: Highland Park United Methodist Church, Dallas, TX, Word Class, Sunday School

22^nd: Clifton Bible Church, Whitney, TX, “Defending the Biblical Basis for Creation”

25-27^th: Pensacola Christian College for Thanksgiving

29-4^th: His Hill Bible College, Comfort, TX, teaching on Biblical Creation

7-9^th: Pre-Trib Study Group, DFW Airport

13^th: Highland Park United Methodist, Dallas, TX, Word Class Sunday School

www.biblicaldiscipleship.org  www.evolutionofacreationist.com   www.Creationproclaims.info

 drjobe@bdmin.org

 Jobe, Jenna Dee, Taryn, and Mirren Martin