Author: radiofreebuckie

Why Are The Books Of The Bible In Such A Crazy Order

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(Re)Discovering The Bible: Vol 1 – A Quick Start Guide For Understanding the Bible’s Origins, its Purpose and its Translations by [Burton, Sam]

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This week we’re kind of taking a rabbit trail. I’ve gotten a ton of questions since I did a broadcast on the best way to read the Bible. Most of the time, people have asked things like, then Why is the Bible in the order it’s in, if that’s not the best way to read it? Fair question. So I thought I’d take a break from our normal Study and explain why the Bible is in the order it’s in. Fair enough? Next week, we’ll get back to our look at the Gospel of John.

Most of us think of the Bible as a Book. In fact, that’s what the word Bible means. It’s just the ancient Greek word for book. I remember in a lot of old Movies and Television programs it was referred to as “The Good Book.” And how do we read a book? From beginning to end. Most books are designed to be read that way. You know, novels, history books, biographies. But not every book. I can’t help but think of several text books back in High School, or even at Uni, where we jumped around according to the topic we were dealing with. The Bible is kind of that way.

The simplest way to explain it, is to say that the Bible is not a book. It’s a collection of 66 books. It was written over a period of about 1500 years, by various authors and editors. The first book probably written was the book of Job. Seriously. Most scholars suggest that Moses wrote it during the time the Jews were wandering in the wilderness. About the same time he was writing his other books. The last book to be written was the book of Revelation. That, however, is not necessarily the reason it’s the last book in your Bible.

Confused yet? Think of the Bible as a library or even a book store. I realize that book stores are mostly a thing of the past, but most of us have been on one. Libraries might be an easier comparison. BTW, if you haven’t been to the Buckie Library recently, you should really go. They have an excellent selection. And the staff are very helpful. And, there is internet service with a great selection of computers for your use. Ok, commercial over.

When you go into a library, you’ll find books grouped according to subject matter, if what’s called the dewey decimal system. First is the group, let’s say we want to study dogs. You’ll search for that section, then you’ll find the books about dogs in general followed by breeds. The subsections like breeds, are grouped in alphabetical order by author name. In the fiction section, books are grouped in more generic topics like, science fiction, romance, murder mysteries, etc. And the books are listed by Author. There are some exceptions, but that’s generally the pattern. No one would just go in and start by reading the first book, and working his way around. That would be more boring and confusing that I could even begin to suggest.

The Bible is put into groups. First, there are two major groups, the Old Testament which has 39 books, and the New Testament, which has 27 books. The word Testament kinda means will. As in Will and Testament. So we have God’s old will, or his old relationship and His New Will. I truly believe that we would understand the Bible better if we would read the New Testament first. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Just hold that in mind for now.

There are 39 books in the Old Testament. They are grouped together in 4 categories. When we look at the breakdown of the books think 5 12 5 5 12.

  1. The Law of God

    1. Genesis

    2. Exodus

    3. Leviticus

    4. Numbers

    5. Deuteronomy

These 5 books are sometimes called, The Pentateuch, which means, roughly, The Five. The Jews call it, The Torah, which means, “The Law”. They were written by Moses during the Israelis’ forty years of traveling in the wilderness. They are a mix of history and laws, with a song or two thrown in, and cover a time period from the Creation of the world to (give or take) 1407 B.C.

  1. The People of God

    1. Joshua

    2. Judges

    3. Ruth

    4. 1 and 2 Samuel

    5. 1 and 2 Kings

    6. 1 and 2 Chronicles

    7. Ezra

    8. Nehemiah

    9. Esther

This next set of 12 books tell the story of the Jewish people from when they entered the Promised land under the leadership of Joshua, circa 1407 B.C. and runs to the time of the Artaxerxes I, King of the Persian Empire.

  1. The Heart of God

    1. Job

    2. Psalms

    3. Proverbs

    4. Ecclesiastes

    5. Song of Solomon

Right here in the middle of the Bible are five books of Poetry. These books have multiple authors who include: Moses, David, and Solomon, among others. They cover a wide range of subjects and emotions. The Book of Psalms, by the way, formed the first Hymn Book of the Church. In some denominations, like the Free Presbyterians of Western Scotland and Northern Ireland, it’s still the hymn book they use.

  1. The Promises of God

    1. Isaiah

    2. Jeremiah

    3. Lamentations

    4. Ezekiel

    5. Daniel

    6. Hosea

    7. Joel

    8. Amos

    9. Obadiah

    10. Jonah

    11. Micah

    12. Nahum

    13. Habakkuk

    14. Zephaniah

    15. Haggai

    16. Zechariah

    17. Malachi

The last 17 books of the Old Testament are the messages of the Prophets of Israel, mixed with little bits of history from time to time. To put them in their historical setting, they begin about the time period covered in 1nd Kings and 2nd Chronicles and end just after the story of Esther.

These books are entered roughly in order of size, though a bit inconsistently. Lamentations, for example, has only 5 chapters and Obadiah has only 1. Lamentations is listed after Jeremiah because he is the source of both books and many ancient manuscripts have them together in one scroll.

Sometimes Isaiah through Daniel are called the “Major” Prophets, and Hosea to Malachi are referred to as the “Minor” prophets. This designation, broadly speaking, is related to the length of the books, and has nothing to do with perceived importance or value.

The Prophets are most often calling the people to repentance from sin, and include the promises of judgment if the people fail to repent as well as promises of blessing when they do. There are many prophesies that refer to the coming of the Messiah (Jesus) and even to the last days of human history when Jesus returns.

Let’s move on now to the New Testament and see how it’s 27 books are divided.

  1. The Son of God

    1. Matthew

    2. Mark

    3. Luke

    4. John

These first 4 books of the New Testament are often called, “The Gospels” and introduce us to Jesus. They tell us who Jesus is. These 4 Gospels explicitly lay out the claims Jesus made about His own identity. It’s rather amusing (bemusing, really)when we hear preachers, philosophers and professors offering their opinions about who Jesus is and who He claimed to be, when there is little ambiguity in the Gospels themselves. Once you read them, you’ll know what I mean.

Two of the Gospels were written by men who actually walked with Jesus and were a part of the 12 men Jesus called, “Apostles”. One was written by a traveling companion of The Apostle Peter who was probably writing the book on Peter’s behalf. He also may have alluded to himself in one of the later chapters of his Gospel. And one of them was written by a Gentile convert to Christianity, who was extremely detail oriented, was a physician and a companion of the famous Apostle, Paul. I guess you’ll have to read them for yourself to discover which is which. (Spoiler alert: I’m about to give away part of the answer.)

  1. The Church of God

    1. Acts

The Book of Acts is often called, “The Acts of the Apostles”, and covers a time period from A.D. 30 until probably the early 60s A.D. when Nero is Emperor of the Roman Empire. It describes the founding of the Church and its early spread from Jerusalem, throughout the Empire, and to the Capital itself.

Acts is the only book in the Bible that describes how people became Christians and how Churches were born. I like to say that the Gospels tell us Who Jesus is and the book of Acts tells us what to do about it.

  1. Living For God

    1. Letters to Churches

      1. Romans

      2. 1 and 2 Corinthians

      3. Galatians

      4. Ephesians

      5. Philippians

      6. Colossians

      7. 1 and 2 Thessalonians

    2. Letters to Individuals

      1. 1 and 2 Timothy

      2. Titus

      3. Philemon

    3. Open Letters

      1. Hebrews

      2. James

      3. 1 and 2 Peter

      4. 1,2, and 3 John

      5. Jude

  2. The 21 books I call, Living for God, are letters written to Believers to encourage, rebuke, teach, and correct them as they cope with life in Christ and learn to grow in Faith. As with most other categories, there are sub groups. Each subgroup, like most of the categories, is ordered according to length. The author of all the specific Church letters, as well as those to specific individuals, was the Apostle Paul. Many scholars also believe he wrote the general letter, Hebrews, as well.

  3. James and Jude were written by two of Jesus’ half-brothers who became Christians and leaders in the early Church. The letters of Peter and John are authored by the Apostles to whom the books are attributed.

  4. The Kingdom of God

    1. Revelation

      1. The ever mysterious and challenging last book of the Bible was written by the Apostle John somewhere around A.D. 90 while he is living in exile on the Mediterranean island of Patmos, where he had been sent by the Emperor Domitian because of his Faith. The book is written to encourage Christians under persecution, that Jesus would ultimately conquer evil and set up His Kingdom forever. A great number of books, both fiction and non-fiction, have been written about understanding the Book of Revelation and ‘the end times’. Some of them have been really good; some, not so much. I would say, on the whole, these books, sermons and movies have caused more confusion than they have solved. Revelation was a book of hope and comfort. It has far too often become a revenue stream for televangelists and con artists. (Preview Note; if you think I used strong language right there, just wait until you read my book about it. It will be in Volume 5).

I know that’s a lot to take in. I’m going to refer you to the Notes on this broadcast at www.radiofreebuckie.com. And in another blatant plug, most of the information in this broadcast is taken from my book, (Re)Discovering The Bible, Vol. 1. Its currently available as an e-book on Amazon. Later in the year, I am thinking about turning into a paperback. I’ll keep you posted.

As I think I’ve said a few times on earlier broadcasts, and hinted at a few minutes ago, if you’re new to reading the Bible, or have had trouble understanding it, or staying focused. And I know plenty of people who have suffered from all those, you should read the New Testament first. Read the Book of Luke first, followed by the book of Acts. The first will tell you who Jesus is, and the second will tell you what to do about it. As for the rest of the reading, I shared that in an earlier broadcast. But in case you didn’t get to listen to it, I will include that information in the notes page on the website. Also, you can write me radiofreebuckie@gmail.com and I’ll be happy to send you a copy.

Before we leave this section on how the Bible is divided, I want to add a sentence or two about the chapters and verses.

When the Bible was written, there were no chapters and verses. Frankly, there wasn’t even punctuation. I bet that was fun reading, eh?

There were a few rudimentary chapter type divisions as early as the 300s (4th century A.D.), but the chapter divisions as we understand them, came in the 1100s and were put there by one, Stephen Langton. The verses were added in roughly 1551 by a clergyman known today simply as Stephanus (real name, Robert Estienne).

These divisions were added to the text to make the Bible easier to read and memorize. They are not inspired, nor does anyone claim they are, but they do help in understanding the flow, even if some of them seem to stop in weird places.

And that’s how and why the Bible is in the order its in. No secret code. No mystifying theological reasons, merely an attempt to organize the contents. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me and ask away. I will get back to you as soon as possible. I love hearing from listeners. That’s it for now. Have a great week. Stay warm. We’ll get back to John’s gospel next time, but for now, I’m out.

Here’s the Document on the Best order in which to read the Bible. Contains recent edits.

First Start with the New Testament. This is more important than most people understand. I am convinced that if we have Jesus in Place, then the rest of the Bible makes more sense.

Luke, Acts, 1&2 Thessalonians. Essentially, this tells us who Jesus is, what to do about it, and how everything turns out in the end.

Gospel of John, 1, 2, 3 John – Because Matthew Mark and Luke are very similar, reading John and his letters next gives variety and make a great deal of sense.

Galatians, James, Matthew,1 &2 Corinthians

1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Mark

Ephesians, Colossians, Hebrews

Philippians, Philemon, 1 Peter

2 Peter, Jude, Romans

Revelation

Now before reading the Old Testament, I highly recommending reading the Book of Hebrews again. Hebrews is the Key to understanding the Old Testament. Especially the books of Genesis through Deuteronomy.

When reading through the Old Testament – Read a chapter or two from Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon each day as you are reading other books. Eg.

3 chapters from Genesis, 1 from the Poetry section,

So:

Genesis, Joshua, Isaiah

Exodus, Judges, Jeremiah

Leviticus, Ruth, Job

Lamentations, Numbers, 1 Samuel

Ezekiel, 2 Samuel

1 & 2 Kings, Daniel

The Day Jesus Went All Jackie Chan At Church!

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I had to go to the doctor this week. She called me in, I wasn’t ill. Anyway, through the course of our discussions, it was decided that one of my prescriptions should change. So she wrote me a new prescription. I went straight to Taylor Pharmacy and got it filled.

While I was there, I had an amusing experience that left the people shaking their heads and smirking at the American. See, I’m from the south. In the southern part of the States, when we are speaking to more than one person, we tend to call them, y’all. Short for you all. I’ve been here long enough that my language is getting mixed up. For example, many times, I will say Aye, for yes. And I will say, Cheerio for goodbye. I refer to cookies, as biscuits, and will say piece to mean either a biscuit or a small sandwich. Yesterday, my old life merged with my new one. After a great chat with the ladies at the Pharmacy I waved my hat at them and said boldly, Cheerio, Y’all. It came out as naturally as if everyone did it. Perhaps I’ve introduced a whole new vocabulary into the Buckie Dialect. Or, I sound like a bit of an idiot.

Anyway, for some reason I just had to share that story with you. It made me smile. I can’t help but wonder how goofy my accent must sound to folk. But I’m happy to entertain the masses.

If you’re new to Radio Free Buckie, we’re looking at the life of Jesus, as remembered by his friend and follower, John. We’re looking at the gospel of John. Today, we’re looking at the last half of Chapter 2. Now if you don’t know, John is the 4th book in the New Testament. Probably, I should take a week and just explain how the Bible is put together. It will really help you understand it better. Ok, it’s a date. That’s what we’ll do next week. It will be fun. I promise. Ok, back to John.

The part we’re looking at today, starts in verse 13. It begins, The Jewish Feast of the Passover was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

At first, that seems kind of like a throw away statement. Just a change of scene or setting. But there are several things I find interesting.

First, its Passover. That lets us know this happens in the spring. But it also tells us that its a major time of worship for the Jews, and Jesus went to Jerusalem to join the worship. When we look at the gospels, we see that Jesus went to Jerusalem regularly for the Big Jewish Festivals, and the rest of the time, he was at the synagogues every week. Even when he was traveling, he stopped to worship. And here’s the kicker. Jerusalem was 84 miles from Jesus base of operations in Bethsaida. And he had to walk. No bus, not train, no plain, not even a camel tour, he walked. That’s like walking from Elgin to Arbroath. And he did it two or three times a year. That’s how important Jesus thought it was to worship God. Here’s another insight. The Bible says, he went up to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is south of Galilee. Up means that essentially, the trip is uphill. I guess the good news is, it’s downhill going home.

But Jesus considered worshiping God to be something so important, that he would do more than Just go to synagogue on Sunday, he walked to Jerusalem. Contrast that with how many of us, don’t go to Church at all. Yikes. Or we go when it’s convenient.

First, let me talk to those of us who don’t go at all. Do some homework and see why people like Jesus thought is was important. I encourage you to come along and join us on a Sunday. It will be weird at first. It’s not normal to stand up and sing. We just don’t do that, except at concerts or in the shower. And usually, when we’re singing in the shower the only one listening and watching is the dog. But it’s uncomfortable, I know. It’s weird for me going to a new church. Because I don’t know the people, their style, or anything. And I’m a preacher. I’m in church every week. If I didn’t go, it would seem like I’d been kidnapped by aliens. But we know that, and we’ll make things as easy for you as possible. We’ll even explain it as we go.

At many Churches we take the Lord’s Supper every week. Sometimes called the Eucharist or Communion. That’s odd. I get it. And then, there’s the offering. The collection plate is passed around. What do I put in? What if I don’t have anything? First, I don’t know a single church that expects guests to give. If you find yourself in one that does, find a different church.

And all the prayers. That’s too weird for words. Especially when some people pray using language that sounds more like Shakespeare than normal talk. It sounds like God doesn’t speak modern English. And some people pray so long that its hard to concentrate.

Finally, there’s that preaching stuff. The only time we have to listen to something like that is in school or in a political rally. I know. It’s rough. But I get it. And some of us are trying to make our services more understandable to people who don’t go regularly. But if Jesus thought it was worth going. It might be worth it at least to try. Think about it.

Now for those who just go to Church when it’s convenient, Can I bend your ear for a minute? Jesus walked 84 miles one way. Plus he was in Synagogue every week. He set an example for the rest of us. He thought spending time with other people worshiping together was important. I don’t ever read in the Bible, “I don’t need to go to Church, I can worship God anywhere.” You don’t have to convince me. Tell Him. He knows what’s in your mind when you turn over and fluff your pillow, or when you log into your iPad, or whether or not you’re worshiping Him as you hike up Bin Hill.

For my American friends who listen, God knows what’s on your mind as you sit in your deer stand, or in your fishing boat, or as you lay on a beach, or whatever you’re doing rather than going to Church. You don’t owe me an explanation.

I’ve spent far too long on that subject, but I am fascinated by the fact that Jesus went to so much trouble to go to worship, and most of us look for ways to avoid it. Hmm…

Anyway, the bulk of the story is about Jesus going to the temple, seeing that it had been turned into a shopping center and foreign exchange center, and he gets so upset that he goes all Jackie Chan. He makes a whip, runs out all the animals, turns over the money tables and sends the whole place into a tizzy. I would have loved to have seen that.

No body knew who Jesus was yet. He wasn’t famous yet. But he was outraged that people didn’t take the temple, or the worship of God seriously. Wow. It really was important to him.

We don’t have temples today. The new Testament teaches that we are the temples. Our bodies are the new temples of God. God wants to live inside of us.

Now think about how we treat our bodies. All the alcohol we drink, the drugs we swallow, smoke, snort or inject, the way we have sex with anyone who we find attractive. Or the crappy food we consume. Do I treat my body like a place God lives. I’m fat. Seriously overweight. I had heart surgery in June. I’ve had to think a great deal about how well I’m treating my body. What about you? How are you keeping God’s house? Is it a nice place, or does it stink and in dire need of some serious renovation? Just something to think about.

If you’re reading along, did you notice that nobody tried to stop him. It’s not like Jesus is the Incredible hulk, or Iron man. There are armed temple police all over the place. Yet no one says, hey, give it a rest. No one arrests him. I wonder if in their hearts they knew he was doing something right. Something holy.

Afterwards, they asked him what authority he had to do what he did, but they made 0 attempt to stop him.

His answer is quite interesting. And cryptic. It’s one of the things I really like about Jesus. He often ignores direct questions and goes straight for the main point. It’s like he knows sometimes we’re trying to change the subject or cause confusion, or something, and he wants us to get to the main point.

He says, Destroy this temple, and I’ll rebuild it in three days. He’s talking about his body. He’s already telling people that he’s going to rise from the dead, but they don’t understand that. See, the resurrection of Jesus is the main event in Human History. It matters more than world wars, or capitalism or socialism or earthquakes or empires or freedom of speech. If Jesus showed up for breakfast three days after people saw him publicly executed, then we absolutely need to pay attention to him, but if not, then his church is silly. Its nonsense.

Think about that for a minute. Don’t think about churches, or preachers, or what family, friends and workmates think. Just ask yourself a question, What if it’s true? What if Jesus really rose from the dead. What does that mean? Then do your homework. Study for yourself.

There will be other questions later, but lets take one at a time. Why did Jesus make this claim about rising from the dead? And then, Did he actually rise?

Wow, this short story gives us a lot to think about, doesn’t it? I hope you’ll go on and read it and think about it for a while. If you have any questions or thoughts, write to me: radiofreebuckie@gmail.com or use the comments section on the website where we post the radio show. www.radiofreebuckie.com.

I would say that’s about it for now. I hope you have an awesome week. Next week, like I said, we’ll give you some help in understanding why the Bible is put together in the confusing way it seems it’s in. Can’t wait for that, but for now, cheerio y’all. I’m out.

Water Into What?

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For those of you who are new, what we’re all about is really simple. We’re looking at the Bible in a way to see if and how it relates to real life. We’re not so much interested in Church traditions or differences, but rather we’re looking to see what the Bible says. Sometimes we might be surprised because the Bible doesn’t say what we’ve heard it says. And sometimes it says exactly what we thought. Then we have to decide whether or not we’re going to adjust our behavior to match.

One of the things we’re doing right now, is we’re looking at who Jesus is. Not who we think he is, and not what churches say, but what does the Bible actually say. I mean, I hear people say all the time, well I think Jesus would…. And I respond to that with, “and what authority do you make that claim by.” Before I accept or reject the guy, I want to know what he is actually about. Not what I, or a preacher, or a teacher, or a professor, or the guy next to me at the pub says. What did Jesus actually say and do. That’s interesting.

And we’re doing that by looking at the Gospel of John. John is in the New Testament. It’s the 4th book of the New Testament. If you want to read it for yourself, and I encourage that, the Bible has a table of contents. It’s ok to use it. Especially, if the Bible is new for you.

Here’s a quick summary of some things you might find useful. The first 4 books of the New Testament are called Gospels. Gospel is just an old word that means good news. They are memories of things Jesus said and did. They are not full biographies. They are highlight reels, as it were. The first three, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are all very similar to one another. John’s book was written after Matthew Mark and Luke were already dead. John was the last of Jesus original disciples alive and he decided to write some of his memories that the others had not written about. And because he and Jesus were very good friends he offers us some cool insights to events in the life of Jesus. And he lived long enough for some weird doctrines to begin spreading, and he wanted to correct those. For example, there was a group of people called the gnostics who had become really popular. They taught things like, the body is evil and the spirit is good, so as long as you focus on your spirit, you can pretty much do anything you like with your body. When gnostics joined the Church, they said, Jesus can’t be both God and Human, because the body is evil. He must have just looked like a man. John goes out of his way to show that Jesus was fully God and fully human.

Today we’re going to look at one of the occasions where Jesus shows both his human side and shows his God side. It’s the first 11 verses of Chapter 2. It’s a very famous, sometimes infamous story. Jesus and his disciples go to a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee. Cana is less than 4 miles from Jesus hometown of Nazareth. It’s like Portgordon or Findochty is to Buckie. Jesus mother is also there. In fact, she plays a very important roll in what happens.

First, we need to understand that weddings at that time were not like they are today. These days, a wedding lasts a whole day. But in Jesus day, the wedding party might last a week. At least 3 days for a small family in a tiny village.

Anyway, the wine ran out. Ah oh. That would be a bad thing to happen now. Back then it was a disaster. Jesus mum says to him, They’re out of wine. He says, And… what’s that to do with me. Mary, simply says to the servants, “just do whatever he tells you to do.”

Jesus looks around and sees 6 big jugs sitting empty. These are for storing water. Each of them will hold about 20 to 30 gallons. He tells the servants to fill them with water. Which they do. Then he says, now dip some out and give it to the guy in charge of the catering. Oddly, they say ok. And dip out theSo water. When the caterer tastes it, it has become wine. Not just any wine. He says it’s great wine. And the party is saved.

First, this is just plain cool. But strangely, it’s also been the source of all kinds of arguments about whether or not it was real wine. As in, alcoholic. If there’s anything I hate, its when a detail in a story becomes so prominent, that it causes people to miss the main point. And that’s what this argument does.

The simple, short version is this, Jesus made wine out of water. In the first place, even if it was grape juice its still a miracle. You can’t do that. I dare you to try. The simple fact though, is, yes it was real wine. The Bible doesn’t cause confusion. The text doesn’t say fruit of the vine, it says wine. Period. The people who I’ve seen argue about it in Churches are either people who are totally against alcohol or people who are totally looking for a reason to drink to excess. There aren’t many people in the middle.

When I preached on this passage at Church, I printed out every verse in the bible that talks about alcohol and brought it with me. I asked people who had read them all. Who had done a study. See nobody does that. We form our opinions and that’s it. How weird.

I pointed out that the Bible calls wine a blessing from God. That He designed it to help us relax, forget about hard times, and to celebrate with. But between 2/3 and ¾ of the verses, about 216 verses. That’s more than in the books of Galatians and Ephesians combined. So the Bible has a lot to say about alcohol. Like I was saying, most of them talk about the dangers of abusing alcohol. See God made it. When we use it in context its a blessing, but when we use it out of context there are all sorts of problems.

It’s kind of the same way with sex. God made it. He made it for our enjoyment and for reproduction. When we stick to the plan God made, sex is always and only good. When we use it out of context there are nothing but problems, and fear of problems. I won’t go into detail, because there may be small children in the room or car with you, but you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Anyway, for the Religious sticklers out there, Jesus made real wine. If you want to discuss that, feel free to write me. You can use the comments section on the website, or you can email me radiofreebuckie@gmail.com.

But for those who drink, the bible is very clear that drunkenness is unacceptable to him. I offer you the same offer I made to the sticklers. Write me and ask away.

But the arguments about alcohol, cause us to miss the point of the whole incident.

  1. First, his mother Mary, is worried about the bride and groom. Running out of wine is a disaster and could ruin their whole celebration and get their marriage off on the wrong foot. Since Cana is a small town, the whispers and gossip could be devastating. She knows that Jesus is the one who can fix things. I don’t know if she knew what he would do, but she knew that he could solve it. Man, we should view Jesus the same way. When there’s a crisis, Jesus knows what we should do. He is the one we should go to for answers.
  2. Jesus cares about the little things as well as the big ones. Yes, he cares about national and global issues, but he also cares about your personal ones. He wants the best for you.
  3. The caterer called the water made wine the best wine. See, Jesus didn’t just make wine, he made excellent wine. He doesn’t just want to do something, he wants it to be the best.
  4. The faith of the servants needs to be noted. They knew they had filled the jars with water. Jesus told them to take some to the caterer. And they did. How much trust did that take. They had to have thought, this Jesus guy is going to get us into big trouble. When the caterer tasted this water he’s going to be really mad. They didn’t know what Jesus was up to. But there was something about him that inspired their trust. Remember, he has never performed a miracle. He has never told a parable, he has never preached a sermon. There is something about Jesus, that is attractive and trustworthy. I think it would do you well to stick around and see how this story of Jesus ends. It’s not at all what you think. Jesus doesn’t just care about world peace. He cares about your home, your spouse, your children, your job, your education, your car that won’t start. Your heat, your groceries. He cares. And he invites you to share your concerns with him. Tell him what you’re thinking. What you’re feeling.

Like I said, you can read this story in the 2nd chapter of John. Read it and think about it. The story just might surprise you. Write me and tell me what you think. Ask me about it. Ask me anything. I’ll talk to you in about a week, but that’s all I’ve got for now. I’m out.

Introducing People To Jesus

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For those of you who are new, first, thank you for tuning in. But if you’re new, this radio show is supposed to come out on Thursdays. But this week I got absolutely slammed with work and now it’s Friday. To be honest, I was going to skip it. Let it slide because I was so frustrated with my crazy schedule. But last night I got several questions as to where the show was, and I noticed I have about 15 new people following me. So here I am.

It’s kind of a side issue, but thank you for caring. Sometimes when I get busy, or distracted, I get discouraged and think, oh, nobody cares anyway, I’m just talking to the air. I think that about Sunday sermons sometimes too. You wonder whether or not people are listening, you know, really hearing what you’re trying to say. Well, this was one of those weeks for me. Then last night, some people started talking about one of my Sunday Sermons and how it helped them. I was so touched. I was humbled. Then I went home and saw all the messages about where the radio show was. For a few minutes, I just sat there and thanked God that people, you are listening and want to hear what God is telling me. So Thank You for waking me up. You rock.

While I’m in confession mode…you didn’t know you were going to be priests today did you? Listening to the confessions of my sins. Well, surprise! Any way, recently I had to get a new mobile phone. So far I don’t love it. I had to get a cheap one, and it has some limitations. The worst thing is the number of things that didn’t transfer when I tried to get all my contacts and stuff to move. One of the things I lost was the contact information for a group that rents the Church building on Fridays. They’ve cancelled for a few weeks for the holidays and haven’t needed the building. Anyway, I agreed to let a funeral director use the building today. Then I remembered the group and couldn’t remember whether or now they were still cancelled for today. I’ve looked everywhere for their contact information. It is nowhere to be found, and I am the only contact they have with the church. So I’ve got to head over to the building in a few minutes to see whether or not they show up. I’m hoping they’re still out, but if not, I’ll apologize profusely and give them a few weeks of free rent to say how sorry I am. I will also get the contact information so it doesn’t happen again. I hate it when stuff like that happens. I feel like such a numpty. Because when I do that, I am a numpty.

Once in a while, we all do stuff like that, don’t we? When all we can do is, say I’m sorry. There are not words or excuses that will atone for what we’ve done. We simply have to live with our mistakes.

One of the great things about God, is his willingness to say “You’re forgiven.” Sure sometimes there are consequences to our actions or words. God is just. And sometimes that means there is a piper to pay, but He will always forgive us and give us a chance to start over.

Ok, confession time is over. Thanks for hearing me out. How is everyone else doing out there? Is your new year off to a great start? I do hope so. Mine is. I mean apart from my crowded schedule that is playing heck with my routine and memory. I did have a dentist appt. today. I hate going to the dentist. My heart bypass surgery was easier on me than a visit to the dentist. Seriously. My dentist is a very pleasant young lady with a nice smile. Her assistant is also very nice. She’s professional, courteous, all the right traits, but it terrifies me. Always has. Something about that gosh awful grinding sound the machines make when cleaning or grinding out cavities, makes me want to cry like a three year old.

What about you? Does the dentist scare you?

The other day, on facebook, there was an announcement about a friend of mine who is going to be married. Obviously, both fiancees are extremely excited and telling everyone the good news. I am always fascinated by newly engaged, newlyweds, People who have just learned they’re having a baby, and people who’ve just had a baby. I’ll add into that mix, those who’ve just bought a new car and those who’ve just bought a new house. You know what I’m talking about. Pictures everywhere. All over facebook and instagram. Sharing the good news with everyone they run into. People want to look at the car, the new baby, or the ring. Smiles abound. Its a glorious time.

When the kid is 4 years old though, things go from, smiles and photos all the time, to, “anybody want to buy a child?” Same with spouses. A few years down the road from the wedding day or engagement announcement and suddenly we’re not as excited as before. I find that really fascinating.

A similar phenomenon happens when we follow Jesus. When a person is a brand new believer, we tell everyone we meet. But after a few years, we hardly tell anyone. And that’s a tragedy.

I want you to look at something in the Bible for a minute. If you want to look it up, it’s in the Gospel of John. John is the 4th book in the New Testament. If you need to use the table of contents, that’s ok. That’s why it’s in there. Anyway, its in Chapter 1, starting in verse 35. I want you to see what happens. First, John the Baptist, tells his followers about Jesus. Then some of them become Jesus followers. One of them, Andrew, immediately goes and gets his brother, Simon and introduces him to Jesus. Jesus gives Simon the nickname, Peter. Jesus calls a friend of Peter and Andrew, Philip. Philip is from the same town, Bethsaida, in Galilee where Peter and Andrew are from. Anyway, Philip runs and gets his friend, Nathaniel and brings him to meet Jesus.

Here’s what’s really interesting to me about this. Jesus has not done a single miracle yet. He has not preached a single sermon or told a parable. First, there is obviously something about his character that is different. But it all starts with John the Baptist. John is pretty well known. He dresses funny and his diet is pretty weird, but everyone knows what kind of man he is. He tells his friends about Jesus. They follow and tell their family and friends.

When you start to follow Jesus, the first people who will listen to you are friends and family. And it’s natural to talk to them about it. The interesting thing is, both Andrew and Philip say, come and see. They know that if their friends or brother will come and see Jesus for themselves, then they will follow him too.

The verses say that Nathaniel was skeptical. He said, “Jesus is from where? Nazareth? Can anything good come out of Nazareth. And we learn later in the book that Nathaniel is from Cana, less than 4 miles from Nazareth. He knows its just a little nowhere, nothing little town. But simply because of Philip’s enthusiasm, he comes to meet Jesus. And at the end of the meeting, he acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God. Philip did the introductions, but Jesus did the rest.

Oh and Andrew introduces Peter to Jesus. Peter, that’s st Peter. The guy our Catholic Church in Buckie is named after. The Peter who preaches the first ever gospel sermon in the book of Acts when 3000 people are baptized as followers of Jesus when he’s done. Yeah, that guy. All because Andrew says, you’ve got to meet this guy. John the Baptist told us all about him. He’s God’s savior. You’ve got to come meet him.

If you’re just listening, wondering what all the fuss is about, I want to encourage you to meet Jesus and find out for yourself. Since you’ve already heard the first part of the story, here in John 1. You can just go on and read the rest of the gospel of John. I’m pretty sure you’ll say, wow. Before it’s over. Or come to church on Sundays. I’ll be teaching through the gospel of John every Sunday for a while. We’d love to have you visit. Or find a friend who is part of a Bible believing Church and ask to go along with them. We’re here to make you welcome and introduce you to Jesus. He’ll take care of the rest.

And if you’re listening and you’re already a believer. You should take a lesson from John the Baptist, Andrew, and Philip. Just tell someone about Jesus. They all said, “come and see” to workmates, family and friends. Jesus does all the hard part himself. Our job is simply to make the introductions.

Next week should be pretty fun. We’re going to look at Jesus’ first miracle. At the time, it caused no problems at all. It only brought happiness to a newlywed couple. But these days, it causes all sorts of fussing and fighting. But we’re going to see what all the fuss is about. Here’s a clue. It’s in the second chapter of John’s gospel.

That’s it for now. Have an excellent weekend, Y’all. I will talk to you soon. But for now. I’m out.

Are You A Prepper? A What?

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Old Cemetery

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2019. I’m having trouble getting my head around that one. It seems like only yesterday, My wife and I were watching the fireworks as 1999 became 2000. I remember being so worried for about 4 months that the world was going to go haywire, because of computers not being able to cope with the New Millennium. We called it Y2K. Remember. People all over the world were storing up food, and water, and cash in case the modern world went off grid. In the States people stored up everything from guns and ammo to toilet paper. In a way, the fears over Y2K started the whole prepper movement.

Preppers are people who want to be ready for any emergency that hits us from a major problem with the grid to a zombie apocalypse. I was a prepper. I confess it freely. In my heart, I still am. I got to thinking about how easy it would be for something to go haywire. How would we get food, water, emergency supplies. I thought about it a lot and eventually came up with a plan. My wife and I made up a list and we went all out in getting it filled. We learned to grow our own food and eventually we became small farmers, like shareholders. We raised cows and goats, chickens, turkeys, rabbits and pigs. We stockpiled batteries and candles, soap, spices and toilet paper. We even bought 6 months supply of freeze dried food in case things got really bad. That stuff has a 25 year shelf life. I learned how to raise fish to eat. My wife learned to make soap. She turned that skill into a very profitable business. In the end, we had enough food stored up to last 2 years and I had enough seeds in storage to take care of us pretty much forever. We had a back up generator in case of long term power failure. I even had both a propane gas grill with 5 spare tanks of propane and a charcoal grill with several bags of spare charcoal in case we needed it for emergency cooking. I had spare fishing line and hooks, compasses, extra knives and knife sharpeners. We had a greenhouse. I could go on, but you get the point.

I my mind I was ready for anything. When I lost my job, and was unemployed for a long time, we had plenty of food and supplies. It turned an emergency into an inconvenience.

Why did we do it? Was I paranoid? Worried? Panicked? No, No and No. When you’re prepared you don’t have to worry. We had to eat anyway. We used soap and toilet paper anyway. By preparing, we were just being safe. I helped many people to also become preppers. I wrote articles for prepping websites. I had loads of fun. Like I said, Brittan turned her soap making into a profitable home based business.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because someday, all of us are going to die. We can’t avoid it. So far, death is pretty universal. Sometimes people live a very long time. Sometimes they die young. But I wonder how many of us look ahead and prepare.

For example, do you have a will? I know I need a new one. My life has changed a lot. I need to make some arrangements. I’m going to start on that tomorrow. Have you prepared your funeral arrangements? You could save your family a great deal of trouble, and heartache, that they don’t need, by making your arrangements in advance. You know, do you want songs? Which ones? Do you want certain people to offer eulogies? You know the drill.

What if you leave young children? What will happen to them? Have you made arrangements with someone for that likelihood?

Now, what about yourself? What arrangements have you made for your eternal destiny? Have you even given that any thought? When I look through history, and archaeological discoveries, I see very clearly that throughout the history of the human race, people have tried to make arrangements. From the ancient Egyptians to the Chinese emperors, we’ve found exquisite burial sites in their honor, with all kinds of things buried with people to assist them in their journey.

Oddly, many modern people don’t give it a single thought. We believe we’ve gone way beyond that kind of thinking. Yet, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, the one thing that most people wonder about, and frankly are afraid of, is what happens after death? Do humans have a soul? Do we go somewhere? Thousands of books have been written about it. Movies galore. Every time someone has a near death experience and writes about it, the book becomes a best seller. We know that mediums and psychics make loads of money from people asking questions. Heck, even palm readers and travelers can set up a caravan and make a packet off of people who are unsure of their future.

Oddly, people rarely ask the Church about it anymore. Sometimes that’s because the answers people are given sound so trite or religious, that we’ve assumed Christians know less or have less viable information than anyone on the subject of life after death. Or, it’s presented in such a “repent or perish” kind of a style that we’re either scared or bored off.

That makes me sad. Because the Bible has a lot to say on the subject, yet most of us never ask. For example, the Bible does talk about an eternal place called Hell that’s pretty much not on anyone’s destination list. It really is a place, where the worms never dies and the fire is not quenched. Or outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Lovely. But did you know that the Bible says God doesn’t want anyone to go there. Yep, both Paul and Peter say it in those terms.

But God is perfect. Holy. And He can only have that around him. And all of us know that that leaves us out. We know we’re not perfect. All Of Us Know That’s a Fact. There’s no surprise there. But that’s why Jesus came. He wasn’t just another religious fanatic. He wasn’t some Green tree hugging hippie spouting for us to love one another and putting flowers down the barrel of tanks and cannons.

I know that’s how a lot of people think of him. But, for example, in the Gospel of John, when John the baptist saw him, He called Jesus, “the lamb of God.” We think of lams as cute little animals playing and frolicking in the fields all over Scotland. We even worry about them when one of them is sick or injured on the Yorkshire Vet television show. But lambs were also, sacrifices. Animals that were killed, with their blood spilled out, to ask God forgiveness. It’s gory and horrific to think about. But when John the Baptist said, “Look there’s the lamb of God.” He’s not calling Jesus a little cutie. He’s pointing out the Jesus was the one who would die for us. He would eventually be beaten savagely and nailed to a cross with his blood running everywhere so that we could be sure of a home with God in Heaven forever. And he proved who he was by rising from the dead three days later. Hundreds of people saw him. Not just one or two. I don’t know about you, but when a guy shows up three days after a public execution, I’m going to listen to what he has to say.

He says, I know you’ve messed up. I know all the dark things you done, all the thoughts that run through your mind, all the places you think no one knows you’ve gone. I know about your broken heart and your family. I know about your illness, physical and mental. I know everything there is to know about you. The good, the bad and the ugly. And I love you. See here are my hands and feet. I have the scars to prove how much I love you. I want you to live forever with me.

He wants to prepare you for what’s coming after you die. See, we can all prepare for what’s could happen here, while we’re still alive. I can tell you all about it. But as for what happens after you die, Jesus has already prepared a plan. He says, Come to me all you who are weary and burdened. But for some reason, we don’t. I think that’s so weird. I want you to think about it this New Year time. Who is this Jesus guy. Why does he say the things he says. Why did he do the things he did. Over the next several weeks we’re going to investigate several of the things Jesus did and said. I hope you’ll come back each week to see how this story ends. It’s really rather remarkable. If you have any questions or thoughts on what I have to say, send them to me. You can email, me radiofreebuckie@gmail.com, you can use the comments on the website at www,radiofreebuckie.com, or you can send them via the radiofreebuckie FB page. I’d love to hear from you. I hope you’ll think very hard about these things. Until next week, Happy New Year. That’s all I’ve got for now. Talk to you soon. I’m out.

Do You Have Your 2019 Goals Ready?

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How close are you to being ready for a new year? I’m always excited for new year. Its always a new start. A chance to chase my dreams. How about you? Do you have dreams to chase? Do you set goals? I’m not talking about New Year’s Resolutions. Those aren’t dreams, and they’re not rooted in anything. Mostly, NYR are just ideas or pipe dreams. Wishful thinking. And they don’t last a week.

I’m talking about things you want to accomplish. Things you want to be. Places you want to go. Things you want to achieve. Do you have them? Would you like to?

I’ve found that over 90% of people don’t. They just let life happen to them. Some people are happy, or at least content with that. But millions, actually, billions, of people, end the year disappointed with what they’ve accomplished for the year. Are you one of the 90%.

You know that secretly, you have dreams. Sometimes you’re afraid to chase them, because of a fear of failure. Or of what people will say. Or of the work it will take.

I say, 2019 is going to be the year some of you break free from your chains of fear and begin to see your life and circumstances change.

My wife and I were just talking yesterday about the fact that she has a secret dream of playing the cello. She played it as a girl, and did pretty well, but just dropped it. Then a few years ago, she thought she would do it. I bought here a cello. Surprised her with it at Christmas one year. She cried. But, she didn’t play it. The next year I sold it. See, I mistook her longing for a dream. Was I mad. Of course not. She just wasn’t ready. Now she’s thinking about getting one and learning. She’s just deciding whether or not its just nostalgia or if it’s something she wants to turn into a goal.

Earlier this year, she decided she wanted to go back to University and get her bachelor’s degree. She’s thought that several times before. But this time, she did her research, set goals, financially, time, and classes, and she got signed up. She’s finished several classes already and is on a tremendous pace. The difference is, she turned it into a goal. I remember a few years ago, when she wanted to start a business, making and selling soap and candles. She worked so hard, she set goals, and paid the price and was extremely successful. A local magazine even came out to our farm in Georgia and did an article on her. She and her soap became the cover story. All because, she was willing to face the risks, do the work, and set the goals. She’s awesome.

As for me, I always have goals for the beginning of the year. Sometimes I set too many. And I accomplish about half of them.

This year I have about 5. I have them written down. I know that if I don’t write them down, then they aren’t goals, they’re wishes. Ideas. Passing fancies. But when I write them down. And have a way to measure them. Things change.

Here’s an example. I absolutely need to lose 100 lbs. I’m not making that up. 100 lbs is a lot of weight. I want to lose it because last year I had 3 small strokes, a heart attack and had to have open heart surgery. I assure you, that will get your attention. If I had lost the weight before, I might not have had the health emergencies. But if I say, I’m going to lose weight in 2019. That’s not a goal. But if I say, I’m going to lose 52 lbs in 2019, I’ve got to lose 1 lb a week. Then I have to find out how I’m going to lose it. Am I going to go on Weight Watchers, or another diet program. Am I going to the gym? How often will I weigh myself.

See, once you’ve set your goal, a bunch of how questions start. It’s fun to answer them. I do have an entire plan. And I’m going to keep you all in the loop on how I’m doing. I do plan to lose 52 lbs in 2019. It’s a goal. Its written down.

Now, what about you? What have you been thinking about? You want to lose weight? Run a marathon? Learn a musical instrument? Start a business? Write a book? Get out of debt? Read the Bible? Start attending Church? Buy a house? A new car? The sky’s the limit. It’s your life. It’s your dream. It can be anything you want it to be. Obviously, write it down. Make it big enough to force some effort. Make it measurable. Set a date. You can decide whether or not to tell anyone about it. Some of mine, I talk about. Some of them are between God and me.

If you want to get out of debt, for example. There are some things you need to do. You need to assess your debt verses your income. You will need a budget. You’ll need to know all that information before you set a time table on how long it will take you. You’ll need to do some paper work. I recommend, and I think I told you about this recently, a book I wrote a few year ago, called I Owe You No More. It’s now only available on Amazon as a kindle e-book. It costs about 2 quid. It will really help you if you’re serious about getting out of debt. And if you do get the book, I’ll help you by giving you a complete set of the forms you’ll need absolutely free. You can make as many copies as you need. And if there is enough interest, I’ll host a Budget Boot Camp later in the spring. Again the camp will be free. Just let me know if you are interested. Email me. Or use the comments on the website or the Facebook page.

If you want to read the Bible, write me and let me know. I’ll send you a step by step plan on the best way to read the Bible. Here’s a hint. Don’t start with Genesis. Seriously. Read the New Testament first. You’ll get so much more out of it. Anyway, I’ll send you the whole plan absolutely free. I’ve sent out about 15 of them in the last week. It’s incredible.

Now, I want to talk to you just a minute about attending Church. I know that some of you are faithful Church attenders here in Buckie, other parts of the U.K. And in America. Y’all can go get a sandwich while I’m talking. I also know that some of you can’t get to Church. You’ve written to tell me your stories. Thank you so much. It is such an honor to know you’re out there. But there are some of you who listen, who don’t attend Church anywhere. For a number of reasons. Perhaps because you’re afraid of what friends or family would say or think. Perhaps because you’re a casualty of a bad experience somewhere. I get it. In a place like Buckie there are no secrets. Word will get out. People will know. Guess, what. They already know you don’t go. And they know why.

Church is not like it used to be. Yes, we still sing songs. Yes, we still take communion, the Lord’s Supper. And yes, people still have to sit through a sermon. But like at our Church, some of us include some really nice videos. The sound is better than it used to be. And people aren’t expected to dress to the nines any more. You can come as you are. Sure, I want you to visit us at the Church of Christ on West Church and Pringle Streets. But mostly, I want you to go somewhere. I want you to get the support and encouragement that you can only get at Church. And if one of the reasons you don’t go, is because you didn’t receive support when you needed it, I’m sorry. I can’t change that. But I can assure you, that we’ll treat you with respect. You need to be in Church. Make it a goal. Come on, you can do it.

There, sermon over. I’ll stop begging.

Next week we’ll get back to looking at the Gospel of John. I hope you’ll tune it. It’s going to be fun and hopefully, you’ll get some insights you didn’t have. In the meantime, don’t miss your opportunity to think about this new year and all of the opportunities a New Year, and a new start can bring.

I want you to start making life happen for you rather than letting it happen to you. And you get started on that road by setting a few goals. I will help you any way I can. Just write me and let me know how you want help.

Have a great hogmanay. Have a great New Year. Be careful out there. I’ll talk to you next week. But that’s all I’ve got for now. I’m out.

Your Best Christmas Ever

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I’m recording this on Thursday, the 20th of December. That means, tomorrow is the Winter Solstice. The shortest day and longest night of the year. Then starting Saturday, the days start getting longer. Man, that’s an exciting day for me. Then I get excited on the Spring Equinox, because that means the days are longer than the nights. Yes, I’m easily pleased. But tomorrow night will be especially cool, because it’s also a full moon. Sadly, here in Buckie, it will be cloudy, so we might miss it. But in other places, the full moon on the Winter Solstice is just plain cool.

I hope you’ve got your Christmas shopping done. I have to go to Liddle’s or Tesco before Christmas. I’m not looking forward to it. The crowds will be insane. Everyone who has waited until the last minute to buy a turkey, or a Christmas pudding will be there rummaging through, in search of a bargain.

Aberdeen, Elgin and Inverness will be absolute pandemonium, as people look for last minute bargains. Oddly, one of my favorite memories of Glasgow, is going to the Barra’s on Christmas Eve at midnight. The crowds were crazy, and the deals phenomenal. It really was a magical place. I don’t know whether or not it’s still the place to be on Christmas eve, but I cherish those memories.

What are your favorite Christmas memories? Do you have some? I know some people don’t. Their memories of the Holiday, are bathed in thoughts of abusive parents, or of alcohol, or drugs, or poverty. Christmas has always been a day of dread, or even fear. I totally understand. I won’t go into detail, but one of the darkest days of my life was a Christmas, many years ago. The hurt, the pain, the discomfort that came with it, haunted the season for years. If I allowed myself, I could still feel the agony of those dark days.

Fortunately, that dark time is long ago for me. And, I promise, those memories, those fears, can become distant and faded. I’m not trying to sound like your counselor or like I’m just preaching like I do on Sundays. I just want to share with you something I know. Something that used to be prominent during the Christmas Season. And it Changes everything.

The Apostle John, says in Chapter 1 verse 14, The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. The Good News Bible, one of my favorite translations, says it this way, The Word became a human being, and live among us.

I want to kind of stop and think about that for a minute. If you remember last week, John started his Gospel with the words, In the Beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word Was God. That sounds kind of high brow and churchy to us in the 21st century, but basically, John says, Jesus, The Word, is God. You can’t deny he says that. He’s going to use his whole book to prove it, but he makes the claim. He says it directly, and boldly. I dare you to read the book of John and try to prove that Jesus and his followers believed anything different that that.

It’s a bold statement. Especially in our 21 century politically correct world. But it’s only part of the story. He completes his thought in verse 14. The word became a human being and lived for a while among us.

John is saying, that God became a human being. He didn’t disguise himself. He didn’t just look human. He was human. St. Paul says the same thing later in the Book of Philippians, chapter 2. He says that Jesus, although being in form, God, didn’t consider that something to be clung to, but he emptied himself, and became a human. That’s incredible.

I bet, when you think of God. Yo u think of Him as far off, as some kind of unknowable, maybe even judgemental person, who has know real idea of what your life is like. After all, He’s God. He lives in heaven, surrounded by angels. He can’t possible understand what it’s like to be you.

But the heart of the Gospel is something completely different. God became a man. He experienced the need to have his nappy changed. He knew what it was to be cold, or hungry, he knew what hard work was. He experienced the desire for friends. He knew what being rejected by people felt like. He actually understood what it felt like to lose people you love. He can tell you exactly what being arrested and kept in prison is like. He knows all about how fickle local government can be. He knows what it’s like when you’ve been beaten until you can’t stand up under your own power. And he knows what it’s like to be falsely accused and laughed at. All of the dark things you’ve felt throughout your life. All of the rejection, all of the unfulfilled hopes and dreams.

That’s the Christmas message. It’s a beautiful, romantic story of a baby born in a stable. Of a group of shepherds who came to visit and worship. Of Angels, and wise men, and an evil king. It has all the characteristics of a great movie. But is is much more that that.

Its the story of God becoming a man. To demonstrate his love for us. To show us how to live. How to have hope in a crazy, sometimes dark world.

I can’t speak for you. I can tell you, that my pain took a long time to heal. And that only happened because I surrendered it to Him, to Jesus. I realized that He understood, that He could give me a new start. That the God who became a man, could take my pain and build something new, and marvellous.

Christmas time, is so amazing. It’s a new beginning, at the very heart of the darkness of winter. It’s bright lights in the middle of December. How cool is that. What a metaphor. There is hope in Christmas. At just the right time, a hero arrived. He can, and wants to, give you a new life. The Bible calls it being born again. How appropriate is that?

I’m not going to spend all our times together trying to sound like a TV preacher. But sometimes I’ve got to. God loves you. He loves you so much that he became a human, just like you. And he want’s to make your Christmas, and all your Christmases to come, just like they are in the movies. Full of hope, and joy, and love.

Think about it. Next week, we’ll have some fun thinking about the year end and looking forward to what 2019 has in store. I can’t wait. I hope your Christmas is everything you dream it will be. Don’t eat too much. Or drink too much. Remember to leave some mince pies out for Santa. If you want, stop by the Church of the 23rd at 6:30 p.m. And join us in our Christmas Carol celebration. You’re invited, wanted and welcome. Merry Christmas to you. That’s it from me this week. I’m out.

 

Goal Setting For 2019 and Jesus At Christmas

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How are you holding up with all the Christmas stuff? Got all your presents bought, wrapped and under the tree. Or do you even have a tree? I’m all done. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for things for my wife, but I think I’ve gotten her everything I can.

I bought myself a last minute prezzie tonight. My smartphone died today, so I ordered a new one. Not a fancy one. Its last year’s model. I can’t possibly justify the price of a brand new phone. Holy Cow, they’ve gotten pricey. I’ve bought cars for less than some of these things cost. Yikes. But, I digress….

I want to say hello to everybody listening in in the USA. Thanks for dropping by. I hope you’re staying warm this winter. Boy howdy, some of you are getting snow. Fix yourself a warm cup of tea and stay a while.

For you all here in the Buckie region, I want to invite you to our Christmas programs at the Church of Christ on West Church Street. No pressure, but you are welcome. We’ll have a candlelight service on Sunday night the 23rd of December at 6:30. It’s going to be a lot of fun. We’ll be singing some familiar Christmas songs and blending them with some readings and testimonies from people in our Church family. And tossing in some great videos. It’s absolutely free. And its open to everyone, regardless of your Church background or none at all.

Then on Christmas Day, we’re going to have a short, special Carol and Communion service at 11:00 a.m. This one will be only 30 minutes and will feature music from Raemond and Ronald Jappy. Both well known popular and skilled musicians. And they are from right here in Buckie. We’re the home of the best. Right?

Are you thinking about 2019 yet. It’s just about 3 weeks away you know. Holy Cow. We all like the new year. Besides the parties and such, I mean. It’s a new beginning. A fresh start. A brand new year. Have you set your goals yet? I’m not talking about New Year’s resolutions. I mean things you really want to accomplish. Do you really want to lose weight? Start a new business. Get a job. Get your family finances in order? Repair your marriage or relationship with your children? Go back to school? I don’t know, there are thousands of things. I could keep going, but I’m not you. I know that when I actually set goals, with dates attached to them and with end results, and write them down where I can see them, I have success. When I don’t, I end up floundering and discouraged.

If you are a goal setter and an achiever, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If not, you think I’m nuts. But basically, you have two choices. You can let life happen to you, or, you can make life happen for you. That’s it. That’s the list.

I want you to make life happen for you. I want you to be more successful than you ever dreamed. I want you to be happier than you ever imagined.

Here’s a simple plan for you to get started. No need to make it complicated. If you do, you’ll fail and think the whole thing is stupid. First, grab something to write with and something to write on. Got them? Hit pause and go get them if you need to. I don’t mind.

Now, write down a few things you really want to accomplish in 2019. No one’s watching. It’s ok. Now in my case, I start with categories: Physical, Spiritual, Financial, Educational, Family. That’s me. You may have different categories. In your first year, you may have none. You may only have one thing you want to accomplish. It may be a test to see if this stuff works.

Then just scribble down the things you really want to accomplish. Now, find the one’s that are most important to you. Let’s say it’s losing 50 pounds or getting out of debt. First note that losing 50 lbs by next Christmas is a goal, losing weight is a dream. Ending your debt and having a savings account of 1000 pounds is a goal, getting ahold of your finances is a desire.

See make your goals specific, make them measurable, make them realistic, write them down. When I say, make them realistic, losing 50 lbs, or 25, lbs is realistic. Don’t say, I want to lose 100 lbs by Easter. That’s just silly. Saying, I want to win the British fitness championship will probably take you a bit longer, especially if, like me, you’re totally fat and out of shape. That might be a realistic long range goal you should write down. If you write to me, I’ll tell you what I’m doing. It’s simple, and the cost is pretty cheap. Yay.

If you want to get out of debt and get on the road to success. There is a way to get started. It’s not a pipe dream. The first thing I will recommend is that you read my e-book, “IOU No More” It’s available on Amazon for a couple pounds or less. I noticed they had it on sale last week. I only make it available these days as an e-book to save you money. Why sell a high priced book to help people eliminate debt? It just seemed wrong to me. If you get it, you’ll notice that many of the references are American. I wrote it in America. But the principles are still the same. And the budget plans are worth the price of the book. Now, here’s my Christmas present offer to you. First, I’m not trying to get you to buy my book. If financial goals are not on your agenda, I get it. But, if you do decide to get the book, if you’ll write to me after you’ve read it, I will send you copies of the forms so you can make as many copies of them as you like. You’ll understand after you’ve read the book. If you don’t want to read mine, I get it. I totally understand. It’s weird to me anyway. I feel like a salesman. Yuck. You can get anything by Dave Ramsey. He’s also American, but his best seller, The Total Money Makeover is a huge help.

Anyway, you get my point. You’ve got to make your goals specific, make them measurable and make them realistic. So, go ahead. Make your list. Try just one. Maybe you want to quit smoking by June. Maybe you want to start a business. Maybe you want to go back to school, or develop a skill, or chase your dream of painting. Maybe you want to start going to church or reading the Bible. The sky’s the limit. Turn your wishful thinking into achievable goals. But do it now. Don’t wait for new year. Get them written down and fleshed out. Put them where you will see them. Maybe on a sticky note on your fridge. Or in a journal. But review them regularly. I want 2019 to be your best year ever. If you have any questions about how to accomplish this, or you want some help. Write me and I’ll assist you any way I can. I’ll be discreet. I promise

Hey, let me come out and ask you if you think much about Jesus during the Christmas rush? I’m asking because I don’t see much around town that suggests He has anything to do with the season. And, ironically, it’s when we celebrate his birthday. Probably he wasn’t born in December, that’s just when the Church long ago decided we would celebrate it. Besides, there were lots of other mid winter Holidays, so it would be a natural fit. Oddly, as time has passed, we’ve forgotten to celebrate Jesus Birthday, and just reverted to a midwinter Holiday.

So I want to take a minute, and talk about Jesus. I know you’ve probably seen a Christmas Nativity play. And you know the story of Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus born in a stable. It’s such a great story. But the thing is, it’s true. Most of us think its just a fable put on in mid winter by children in bathrobes with towels on their heads. We laugh at their foibles, and clap and cheer at the end of the story. And we take photos of the cast and especially our own children and grandchildren because they’re so darned cute. But do we ever think beyond the childrens play?

The Gospel of John is the fourth book in the New Testament. John was one of Jesus’ 12 disciples. And perhaps his best friend. So John’s memories of Jesus are very unique. He wrote about 30 years after Matthew, Mark, and Luke, so his stories are almost all fresh and different. You can feel it as you read through the pages. John doesn’t start with the Christmas story. In fact he ignores it altogether. That’s all been done. Matthew tells it from Joseph’s perspective and Luke tells the story from Mary’s perspective. No John starts like this: In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. And the Word was God.

That’s completely different. He leaves the Nativity details to Matthew and Luke, and zooms right in on the actual identity of Jesus. He is not just the son of God. He is God. That’s incredible. That’s amazing. To think that God cared enough for humanity that he became human for us. Contrast the story of Jesus with Greek and Roman theology for a minute. It those stories, the God’s appeared as humans to fight monsters, have love lives with humans and play games with human hearts.

But Jesus is different. He doesn’t just appear human. He is human. He comes into life as a helpless baby. He can’t feed himself, change his own nappy, or even walk. He is raised like the rest of us. Dependent on others to meet his every need. That’s why we read in the Book of Hebrews, also in the New Testament of the Bible, that Jesus is a Great High priest who understands everything we go through. Because he was tempted in every way just like the rest of us, yet He was without sin.

John says in verse 14 of chapter 1, that the Word became human and lived for a while among us. That’s a short Christmas play. Very short. But he says so much there. Jesus didn’t just look like us, he was one of us. Whatever you’re going through, He gets it. He’s experienced joy, laughter, as well as heartache and pain. Remember, He was accused of Blasphemy against God. Which obviously he didn’t do. He was God. He was beaten to a pulp by the Roman soldiers and nailed to a cross. Crucifixion was a horrible death. And the Romans were very good at it.

But why did He do it? Why did he become a human at all? Why did he go through potty training and Primary 1. Why did he preach and heal. Especially why did he let himself be murdered?

I don’t want to spoil the story, but he went through every minute of it because he knew how your life was going to get so messed up and he loved you, thousands of years before you were born, enough to die for you.

So, I think its only right that we take some time and think about Him during the Christmas season. What a hero. Jesus is God. He’s not just a made up cartoon for entertainment. He was actually born during the days of Augustus Caesar and King Herod. He was more real than the lights in the square, than the turkey and stuffing you’ll have for dinner. Jesus is the best man, with the best plan you can ever imagine.

I sure hope you’ll think about all that this week. And I sure hope you’ll stick around while we look through the Gospel of John and discover some of the secrets about Jesus true identity. It’ll be fun.

If you have any questions, write them down and send them to me at, radiofreebuckie@gmail.com. Or you can use the comments section of the website or the Facebook page. It’s that easy. Please remember our Christmas services at Church. Be safe out there. That’s all I got. So talk to you next week. I’m out.

Jesus’ DNA, And What It Means For Christmas

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Hello Buckie! How’s everybody doing out there today. After yesterday’s high winds, I hope you’re well and that nobody’s house blew to Oz. Wow, that was a wild day. Anyway, thanks for tuning in. You’re listening to Radio Free Buckie, and I’m your host, Sam Burton. Glad you’re here.

We’ve got a couple events coming up real quick that I want to take notice of. First of all, this weekend is the Christmas Cracker. Wow, can you believe it’s already that time of year? I remember last year, it was cold. Brr. But what a load of fun it was. Anyway, I do hope you get out and enjoy all the festivities. As usual, at our Church, the Buckie Church of Christ, on West Church and Pringle Streets, Glenn Campbell is having another fund raiser for the youth drama team and they’ll be hosting a luncheon. Brittan and I plan to be there for a good part of the day, so do say hello.

On Sunday, the Second of December, we’re hosting a movie night at the Church. We’re showing, I Can Only Imagine. It’s the movie about how the song came to be. It’s really a great film and you’re invited to come join us. The film will be starting at 6:30, but the doors will be open by 5:45 for everyone to come on in and get some freshly popped corn and/or get some fresh candy floss and find a good seat. The back rows fill up quickly, so get there early.

And finally, On Saturday, 8th December, we’re holding our second annual, Bake Off, cake competition. I’m sure you’ve seen some posters around town, but if not, it’s a baking competition for fun and prizes. Last year we had about 15 cakes. We’d like to double that this year. So we have some new categories. First, we have two categories for children up to age 15. We have one for adults. There is also a category for non cake bakers, like cookies, puddings, or other desserts. And we have an open competition for: The biggest cake disaster. It is only 5 pounds to enter, and all proceeds go to the Fishermen’s Hall. So please come and join the fun.

If you have any questions about any of those events just write me at radiofreebuckie@gmail.com.

Have any of you noticed all the interest and hubub about tracing your ancestry? This whole DNA thing is really starting to catch on. For the low low price of about 49 to 100 pounds, a company will post a kit to you. Basically, you spit in the cup and post it back to the company. In a few weeks they will send you a complete DNA profile, including the names of relatives, racial background, where your ancestors come from, whether or not you have any Neandrathals in your family tree, etc. It’s all good fun and making these companies filthy rich. We’re fascinated by it.

At the same time, one of the parts of the Bible that drives most of us crazy are all the genealogies, sometimes called the BEGATS. You know. Someone begat so and so and he begat whats his name and etc. etc. They drive most of us crazy. They are boring and we can’t even pronounce half the names. So usually, we just skip over them. You know you do.

But I want to try and change your mind about the genealogies in the Bible. Today, we’re going to talk about the one that starts the book of Matthew, the very first book of the New Testament. I mean the book starts right off with it right in verse one. Most of us see that, and we close our Bibles right up, or we decide to skip to the book of Mark.

But Matthew was very smart in his genealogy, giving people a great deal to think about. In his day, this would have been thought provoking and controversial. He is showing that Jesus is the heir to the throne of Israel. No controversy there, the Jewish Messiah should be heir to the throne. But he mentions 5 women. 5 significant women. Nobody did that. Especially this list of women.

First there is Tamar. She is Judah’s daughter in Law. She’s a gentile. And Judah father’s twins by her. This is a long and sordid story. The short version is, She was married to Judah’s oldest son, he died before children, so as the custom was, she was then married off to his younger brother. He also died. Because Judah’s next son was too young, she was sent home to her family with a promise that she’d be married to his next son once he was old enough. That’s a tough thing for us to understand that custom. To us, it sounds weird and kind of gross. But to all of them, it was quite normal. Anyway, Judah in time forgot about Tamar. After his wife died, in order to get Judah’s attention, Tamar dresses up as a prostitute and slept with him. I know, it sounds like something straight out of netflix. Anyway, she turns up pregnant. There is a big scandalous showdown, and Judah admits they are his babies. But although its a huge scandal in town, She is in the family tree of Jesus.

The next woman is Rahab. She is also a gentile. And she is a prostitute. She ran a hotel and brothel in Jericho. We read about her in the book of Exodus. She protected the spies, and because of that she was spared when the Jews took the City by force. Then she marries a Jew named Salmon, and has a son named Boaz.

The third woman mentioned is Ruth. She has a whole book of the old testament that tells here story. She is a gentile. She is married and her husband dies. She moves in with her mother in law, Naomi. They are both widows and become very poor. Naomi has a rich relative who has a farm. She talks Ruth into working at his farm. Short version, she and the farmer fall in love and get married. The rich farmer is, Boaz. Ruth gives birth to a son, Obed, who is the Grandfather of King David.

The next woman mentioned is Bathsheba. Bathsheba may or may not have been a gentile. Her name means daughter of Sheba which could be her father’s name, or could mean she is from sheba in Africa. Either way, she was married to Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s most famous soldiers. He and Bathsheba were neighbors of David. David has an affair with Bathsheba while Uriah is away in the army, and she gets pregnant. As a result, in the end, David has Uriah killed and marries Bathsheba. Their son dies. It is a tragic scene in the Bible. Anyway. David does love her, despite all the scandal of tragedy. She has a second son, named Solomon. Yes, THAT solomon.

Would you look at that list of women. All 4 of them are gentiles. Three of them are of quetionable morality. Who would list them in their genealogy as the only women. Oh wait, there’s another. Her name is Mary. She is a young woman from Nazareth who is told she is going to have a baby, and her child would be the son of God. She can’t understand this message because though she’s engaged, she’s a virgin. The angel says, God will take care of that part so she will be pure when the child is born and still be a virgin for her wedding day.

See, Jesus is not the product of perfection. The family tree is loaded with liars, cheats, false religious leaders, adulterers and even murderers. His family is a mess. Just like yours and mine. He knows what we feel like, what we endure. He gets it. But you see, when the Bible mentions these women, Matthew is telling us, Jesus died for ordinary people, and he died for some pretty wicked ones. The gospel is for everyone. Whoever we are and where ever we’re from. The people who read his gospel in his day, understood exactly that. And he ends the same way, The book of matthew ends with these words from Jesus. “Therefore go and make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey every thing I’ve commanded you. Surely I will be with you, to the very end of the age.”

That is so awesome, Matthew declares at the beginning and the end of his memories of Jesus, that Jesus came, not just for the religious elite, or the rich and famous, but for every single one of us. Now that’s some good news to start of this Christmas season. Think about it.

That’s all I’ve got for today. I sure hope to see you at one or more of the events coming up. That’s the Cracker, at the movie, or at the Cake Off. If you have any questions to ask about any of the events or about the stuff in Matthew’s Gospel, write me at radiofreebuckie@gmail.com , or use the comments section at www.radiofreebuckie.com or pm me at the radiofreebuckie FB page. Until next week. I’m done. I’m out.

Who Is Jesus Really?

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First, because we have so many listeners from the USA, I want to say, Happy Thanksgiving, to all of you listening in from across the pond. I hope you have an excellent holiday weekend. And I wish everyone, on both sides of the Atlantic, a peaceful Black Friday. I know I plan to spend it, safely locked up inside my office. I am not headed for Aberdeen, Inverness, Elgin, or even down East Church street here in Buckie. So, if you venture out, good luck. Be safe. And I hope you find a bargain.

It’s really hard for me to believe that Christmas season is here again. It seems just yesterday I was filming the leaves appearing on the rose bushes, as a first sign of spring. And the appearance of daffodils. But here we are, with dark mornings, and the sun setting before 4 pm. And getting ready to decorate our houses for the season. Unless you live in our house, where my wife decorated the tree in October! I’m serious. Our tree was up in October. She loves the season.

What about you? Do you love Christmas? Why? Do you even remember, with all of the trees, and lights, and presents, and feasts. That its a celebration of Jesus Birthday. I ask, because, I don’t see it out in the open anywhere. You don’t see many nativity scenes anymore. At least not out in public. You can’t even find Faith Based Christmas Cards in the shops. At least not many. Seriously, it’s like we’ve just decided to have a mid winter Holiday Celebration for no reason at all. And that’s just weird.

In fact, I’m going to come out and ask you. Do you think of Jesus at all during this season? That’s not an attack, it’s an honest question. Actually, I’m going to take the question a step further, Do you think of Jesus really at all? And if I asked you Who is He? What would you say?

A few year ago, I knocked on thousands of doors in Buckie, and asked, among other questions, “Who do you believe Jesus is?” I got some very interesting answers. But the fact is, most people answered, “I don’t know.” Now, to be fair, I did make the mistake of starting the project on week nights during the World Cup, and got a lot, of answers like,’I’m watching the match, Mate. I don’t have time for this.”

So first of all, I should have known better than to do my survey when people were having another ‘religious’ service, but I was young.

But the world cup isn’t going on at the moment, and it’s been forever since Scotland participated, Besides, I never got to ask you, but Who do you think Jesus is?

There are 4 books in the Bible, that exist, just to answer that question. Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. In Church we call those the Gospels. Gospel is just an old word that means ‘good news.’ So that’s a hint about what those writers thought. They thought Jesus was Good News.

I’ve met lots of people who, quite frankly, scratch their heads at that. They might not think of Him very often, but rarely do they think of him as good news. They think, well the dude got killed, crucified, in fact, I’m not sure there’s a lot to celebrate in that. Or, they think Jesus came as the ultimate party pooper to spoil our fun and to make us live in a straight jacket.

I’m going to spend the next few minutes telling you who the Bible really says, He really is. And I hope you’ll stay plugged in.

First, about those gospels. One of the crazy things about them is, and not a lot of people look at them this way, is they are not biographies. First, not many people like biographies. I prefer to think of them as memories of Jesus. Highlights from his life. You know, kind of like when we get together and reminisce about someone. Someone tells a story, someone else says, oh yeah, remember when he or she did this or said that, and pretty soon we’re all absorbed in reliving a holiday, or family life, or the life of someone we cared about. Well, the Gospels are exactly like that. They are not a biography, they aren’t even always in chronological order. They are memories of things Jesus, did. Things he said, and places he went. And that alone makes them fascinating.

Because it’s Christmas time, I’m going to mostly stick to the gospel of Luke. That’s because, Luke and Matthew are the only two that even talk about when Jesus was born. Because these are ‘memories’ of Jesus, Mark and John don’t have any memories about when Jesus was born. Luke, interviewed people to get their memories, and he tells the story from Jesus Mother’s perspective. Matthew, tells the story from Joseph’s perspective. So you get some different’ stories. How cool is that. But anyway, we’ll mostly stick to what Luke has to say about who Jesus is.

In chapter 1, he tells about how Mary was visited by Gabriel, and angel, and told that she would have a baby in 9 months, and the baby would be called, the son of God. That’s in verses 32 and 35 of the first chapter if you want to check it out. In the chapter we discover that Mary is still a virgin, and she has questions about how the pregnancy is going to happen. See, Mary might have been from a small town, but she knew where babies came from. It’s a really cool interaction. You should read it. You can hit pause and do it now. I won’t be offended. I’ll wait. Or, you can wait till we’re done. That’s fine too.

Over in Chapter 2, we have the part where angels visited a group of shepherds the night Jesus was born and they told them, unto you is born, this night, in the city of David, a saviour, Christ, the Lord. Then they tell the shepherd where to find Jesus. So the shepherds, a whole gaggle of them, go to Bethlehem, to find the baby. And they raid the stable, and interrupt the whole experience. It’s pretty funny when you think about it.

For Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, their whole night is messed up, invaded. But for the shepherds, this is awesome. The angels had told them that this kid, was their messiah, their savior. And they just had to see him.

In chapter 4, verse 3, we’ve got the devil entering the picture. Jesus is a man now, and the devil is tempting him. He says…If you’re the son of God…. Hmm. Jesus seems to know who he is and what his role in life is, and Satan tries to get him to question it, or to lord it over creation and get whatever he wants.

From there, the rest of the Book of Luke, is a catalog of things Jesus said and did, during his ministry. All his teaching, and miracle after miracle. There were hundreds, even thousands of witnesses to these things. Luke just tells them, one after another. You’ll be amazed by the people Jesus helped and even saved. He’s not a party pooper at all. He makes people celebrate every day.

Then the drama at the end. Jesus is accused of blasphemy, arrested, goes through a kind of mock trial. A kind of kangaroo court, and sentenced to death. You’ll go, what? How can anybody get a death sentence for healing people, for feeding them, for loving them? But you see, it wasn’t because of those things….it was because he said he was God, in the flesh. And the Jewish leaders couldn’t take it. But, they were foiled, because they killed Jesus on Friday, but on Sunday, he was up. Alive. Risen. And everything changed.

I encourage you to read the whole letter Luke wrote. It’s amazing. You will have no doubt who Jesus is. Then read the book of Acts, also written by Luke for find out what to do about it.

But there are a couple of other things from some other gospel stories I want to call your attention to. In John’s Gospel, that’s the 4th book in the new testament, in chapter 3: verses 16 and 17 we read, ‘For God so love the world, that he gave his one and only son, and whoever believes will not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

That’s amazing. And it’s night and day different from what most people seem to think God wants. We think his whole plan is to through lightning bolts at our backsides and make us mind. But he wants to rescue us from ourselves and the consequences of our bad choices.

Another one of my favorite verses in in Matthew’s Gospel. In Chapter 11 verse 28 Jesus says, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Jesus sees us right where we are. He knows just how hard our lives have become. And he says, come to me. Don’t fight. Don’t turn away. Come to me, and I will give you rest.

I have to ask. Are you weary and burdened. Do you sometimes wonder what the whole point is, and when the stupid carousel is going to stop spinning? I want you to know, Jesus says, he will stop the spinning. He’ll give you rest.

If you are at a point where you want the kind of rest Jesus is offering. Just write to me and say so. I will get back with you. It’s that important.

So, If you want to know who Jesus is, read the Gospels. I recommend you start with Luke.

Next week, I’ll end this heavy stuff for a while. We’ll have some fun. Until then, take care. Stay warm. And spread the word about Radio Free Buckie. We’re here. We’re telling the truth. And we don’t care who hears it. For now. I’m out.