COMING AUGUST 20… A NEW CHALLENGE!

Dear FPC family and friends,

            We are well on our way to finishing together the entire Bible.  This next 90 Day Challenge will take us through the New Testament and give us a taste of the Old.  In this challenge we will be covering a book of the Bible that is the most intriguing, and confusing, for some people: Revelation.  If for no other reason than to see what we think as Reformed Christians about this book of the Bible, pick up this 90 Day Challenge III and get reading!

            We will begin the Challenge on August 20, which is a Sunday.  It should take us all the way through November 15 when we will be looking forward to eating turkey on Thanksgiving.  It seems so far away!  But those of you who are Challenge veterans know that once you start reading, the end of the time comes very soon.  It is a challenging portion of Scripture because it does contain some harsh and even caustic statements that Paul and other writers include in their thoughts.  Hopefully we will be able to put them within their right context without stripping away any of the authority which the Bible contains for our life.  Isn’t that part of what we do as we read the Bible?  We try to read it knowing that it was written thousands of years ago, and yet it applies to us completely today as well.  It is a balance that takes some prayer and request of guidance from the Holy Spirit.  But that is what life takes after all.

            Our Challenge this year will take us through the celebration of the 500^th Anniversary of the Reformation.  It is a time in history when people of faith rose up against an institutional attempt to control a population’s ability to have a direct relationship with our Savior.  For many that relationship begins with the reading of Scripture.  I hope and pray that as you join us on this Challenge that you will see yourself as someone who is walking in the footsteps of those who paved the way to allow you to read the Scripture.  Allow the Bible to change your life.  As you do, put yourself within the context of generations before you who sacrificed their lives and their way of life so that we can read the Bible and understand what it means to walk with Jesus. 

            Remember, follow along online with my daily blog at: http://www.straspres.org/90-day-challenge-iii.

            Happy reading!

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Bob