Disciples Discussion Den

A New Life in a New Year This time of year, many of us take time to reflect on the past and make plans for the future. Sometimes we say we will lose weight, exercise more, spend more time with family, give up bad habits, and so forth. I would like to do all those things and more.  But as I look over previous years, I find that resolutions are hard to keep, and I often give up too soon. The problem is, I try to do things in my own strength and my own wisdom instead of in the strength and wisdom that God provides. As we go into this new year, let us pray for God's strength and read the scriptures to gain God's wisdom. Proverbs 3:5-6 says: Trust in the Lord with all your heart,     and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him,     and he will make straight your paths. Today I want to look at promises and principles from the Bible to help us: Learn from the past; Live in the present; Long for the future; 1. Learn Fr...

The Shepherds and the Angels People often ask "what is the true meaning of Christmas?" In a classic Christmas special called "Charlie Brown Christmas", Linus answered the question by reading the following Scripture from Luke 2:8-20 8 And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest,  and on earth peace among those with whom he is...

Today’s message is about repentance. Repentance is an act of the will to make a significant change in our lives. Repentance is not a feeling, it is an action, it is a choice. Repentance means that we recognize that we have made wrong choices in the past, that we feel sorrow for those wrong choices, and that we have set a goal to stop making those wrong choices and start making right choices. Repentance is sometimes described as a change of mind or a change of direction. The Apostle Paul found out through a letter that many people in the Corinthian church were sinning against God and against one another in many ways. Paul wrote a firm but a loving letter to them telling them specific ways in which they were at fault and needed to change. We have that letter in our Bible and it is called First Corinthians. Then Paul sent Titus to encourage them and to see how they were doing. After Titus returned Paul wrote these words in the second letter to the Corinthians: But God, who comfort...

I recently heard a disturbing statistic. The late Dr. Billy Graham said that he thinks 95% of the people who came forward in his evangelistic campaigns were never really saved. The reason he said this is because of the continuing moral decline in our country despite high numbers of people who openly confessed Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Jesus uttered the following disturbing words: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’   Matt 7:21-23 It isn’t enough to just utter the words “Jesus is Lord”. If Jesus really is Lord of our lives, then we will do the things He says. We will obey His commandments. Please don’t m...

You've all heard the statistics: "98% of climate scientists believe Climate Change is real". But what does that even mean? Define "real". Please provide a peer-reviewed mathematical study to support that statistic. Who was selected in the survey? How were the questions worded? Perhaps no one can provide support for the often-quoted statistic because no true, scientific study was ever done to come up with the number. The very core of true science is skepticism. A scientist who does not doubt, and then test the data for himself, is not really practicing science. Any scientific study that is published without extensive peer-review does not pass the rigor that the scientific community requires. If 98% of scientists agree on anything it is right to question their objectivity. The idea that the speed of light is a constant and nothing can go faster than light, has been proven over and over. But that does not mean that scientists are not trying to find a way to ...

This is the "Other" category where we put anything that does not fit anywhere else. Readers are welcome to put comments about the format, readability or any general comments which are not the subject matter of other posts. I will also keep a running tab on significant changes I make to the blog. 7/31/2019 - I changed the "About" tab to only include "About this Blog" and "About the Author". I also created "Welcome" posts to introduce the major categories. Unfortunately, I don't know how to bring the Welcome posts to the top since the most recent post always comes to the top. Blogger is an easy system to get started with, but sometimes it is hard to customize. Also, I changed the color of the links to make them easier to read in low lighting. I am also experimenting with letting anyone make comments, whether or not they have a Google account. We'll see how that goes.

We've all been there. We are having a nice family get together and someone starts talking about politics. Suddenly there are raised voices, insulting comments, negative stereotypes, and finally the statement "No More Politics!" Politics divides family from family, friends from friends, and splits churches down the middle. Why has politics in America become so divisive? What should we do, as disciples of Jesus Christ, to quell the anger and promote truth and civility when discussing complex political issues? I think the issue is deeper than the specific issues and personalities of the day. Our anger is rooted in a feeling that no matter what we say, no matter what we do, no matter who we vote for, things are out of our control and getting worse. We feel helpless. We feel that we have been deceived both by the politicians and the media. Some of us feel unfairly accused of being racist, homophobic, xenophobic, unloving, or uncaring about our fellow man. Others of us fee...

We all have areas of our lives where we need help from other people. But we also need help from God if we are to live victoriously in this life. Today I’m going to be talking about one of the miracles Jesus performed when He was on this earth. By studying this miracle, we can learn how God can help us in our lives today to deal with the problems of life. Sometimes there is too much month at the end of the money. Perhaps there is an unplanned pregnancy with all the emotional and financial pressures that involves. We might be caught up in addiction we just can’t break no matter how hard we try. It could be an addiction to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, pornography, sex, or even our cell phones. Whether our need is physical, emotional, financial or spiritual, Jesus wants to help us. But we also have responsibilities: First, we need to really want to be made well.  Second, we need to really believe that Jesus has the power to make us well. Third, we need to obey Jesus ...

My goal in this blog is to educate and motivate voters and trust them to vote with a new perspective. I have and will continue to write letters to my representatives, Some which will be posted on this blog along with the letter I got in response. I am a registered Independent and I consider myself a right of center moderate. I will not endorse any candidate or political party, but I will offer my analysis and opinions on various issues. This blog is not the place for bashing candidates, either in my posts or the comments. There are plenty of other places one can go to do that. I will criticize policies which I do not agree with, but I will try hard not to slander the character of anyone, no matter how much I may want to. Please hold me accountable on this. There are times when I bite my tongue so hard it bleeds. Image source:  https://www.npr.org/podcasts/381443666/it-s-just-politics

This category is the main purpose of this blog. Yes, we will spend time discussing politics, the environment, technology, and all kinds of fun stuff. But the real purpose of this blog is to make new disciples of Jesus Christ and to strengthen those who are already disciples. Please read the post "What is Discipleship?" to understand further. Even though this blog is called the Disciples Discussion Den, anyone, of any religion, or no religion at all, can join in and make comments. The guidelines for civil debate laid out in the "About this Blog" post apply to everyone, including me. Image Source: https://redeeminggod.com/sermons/luke/luke_6_12-16/

Ode to a 4-H Educator: With your head, you love to ponder, On the One who matters most. On the Father and His only Son, And the blessed Holy Ghost. “May the Mind of Christ My Savior” Is the song you love to sing, And may you always savor, The sweet blessings that They bring. With your heart, you love all children, But you ‘specially love your own. And you pray your children’s children, Will all gather 'round the throne. But in this life so many, Have seemed to lost their way, Oh teach them while there still is time, So they will never stray. With your hands, you labor long and hard, To instill within their heart, That the character they choose today, Is the one which will not part. Oh save the little starfish, Give them new life one by one. And when the battle’s over, The true tally will be done. With your health, please stay among us, Like the “sweetheart” you “adore”. May you live to be a hundred, ‘T...

The Angel of the Bench Oh come apart and sit awhile, And rest your weary feet. The journey goes from mile to mile, It is not yet complete. But if you listen to the brook, And let it soothe your soul, Lift up your eyes and take a look, And you will be made whole. Oh come apart and tarry, And rest your weary back. The burden that you carry, Is the peace of mind you lack. Oh see the happy birds around, And see they are well fed. To you, the blessings will abound, As Jesus Christ has said. Oh come apart and set a spell, And rest upon the shore. Your private pain, your living hell, Are gone forevermore. You are the angel of the bench, That place of peace and rest. The thirsty soul you come to quench, You bring us all what’s best. Written by Tom Dunkerton June 8, 2015 In dedication of a bench on the Brandywine River. Placed in Memory of Deborah J.  Maholick  February 2, 1961 to March 3, 2015 Debbie in the middle with sisters Ann on the le...

Live Long and Prosper May your soulmate dwell within you, So you’ll never be alone. May you see your children’s children, Having children of their own. And if the ones you care for, Are not from your loins or womb. Still, love them, bless them, guide them, From the cradle to the tomb. The things that really matter, Are not defined by wealth. They are not defined by where you live, Or even by your health. The things that last forever, Come from deep within the soul, Gentle love, joy, peace, and kindness, Goodness, faith, and self-control. But do not neglect the temple, Which is your earthly home. Eat the foods that make you healthy, Live to give your muscles tone. Do the things that make you happy, Do them with the ones you love. Let each day be one step closer, To the endless joy above. Give to others who are needy, Who cannot get out of bed, Who do not know your wisdom, Who need to be well fed. Do not give so that you...

Discussions about Discipleship, Politics, and sometimes even the Environment can be serious and controversial. It is nice to take a break and just talk about fun things we like to do. This page is where we can do that. Feel free to make fun comments and/or post fun links in the comments section.

I have a love/hate relationship with technology. Perhaps you can relate. (Now I'm about to date myself and bore most of you) ... ever since I typed out FORTRAN and COBOL programs onto punched cards to run on the IBM 1130 computer at Geneva College, and then dropped the whole stack and had to sort them ... ever since I spent many hours (cumulatively) toggling switches to write a bootstrap program (in Octal) into a DEC PDP8 so that it could read the operating system in via paper tape, then had the paper tape tear ... ever since I have spent night after night on third shift at IBM trying to find out the conditions that caused the hardware to fail ... or trying to track down bugs in software that other people wrote very badly ... or trying to track down bugs in my own code which was also written very poorly ... or waiting for Windows to update while I have something really important to do (are you with me now?) ... or trying to type a text on my wife's "smartphone" (I...

  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.  Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV) These words are often called the "Great Commission".  They are the marching orders of the church. Jesus' disciples were sent to make more disciples who in turn are to make disciples of their own until the "all nations" are reached, continuing until the "end of the age". So what is a "Disciple of Jesus Christ"? Very simply, it is a student, who sits at  Jesus' feet, learns from him, and then obeys his commandments. Those commands are the practical outworking of the two greatest commandments, to love God and to love our neighbor. But we must learn how to do...