Forum Updates

Good morning beloved brothers and sisters in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!

Just a quick update on things going on over at the Berean Study Group Forums website. As you can see here, I've been away from social media and blogging for the better part of the last week. The reason is that I've been devoting most of my time to the forums as I am in the middle of a major overhaul. Adding a few features and making some major changes to aesthetic aspects of the site. This can be very time consuming since I am doing my best to make sure all images used on the website are original content so that we do not violate any copyrights. Since we do not have a staff or budget this means I am creating each and every image by my own hand. But don't get me wrong, I love this work and I'm excited to be working for the Lord in any way I can.

I hope you've had time to stop by and check out the forums, and I'm praying you will see the value in becoming a registered member so that you can engage in the bible study with us each week. It's free and it doesn't require much time, you can post as much or as little as you like. Our main purpose is to encourage getting into the Word of God on a daily basis and to share your thoughts and be exposed to the thoughts of other believers for the sake of encouragement within the body of Christ. We also want the forums to be a place of safety on an ever-increasing dark internet. We hope to become a close family of believers in these last days.

So with that said, if you haven't checked out the forums yet, I pray you will do so today. Please make note that the host of the site does not allow me to customize the mobile version of the website so if you are viewing it on a mobile device such as a phone or small tablet you will not be seeing the forum as it is designed and many of the features are not available. If you scroll to the bottom of the mobile site you can click on the DESKTOP link on the bottom right to enjoy the full benefits of the site.

Updates to the desktop version of the forums as of today include:

• New icons for each board to help you quickly and easily identify each topic
• A new text color scheme to help identify links more easily
• A quick scroll button on the right of the screen allows you to quickly move to the top or bottom of the page in one click
• New achievement badges have been added, with more to come, to make the experience more fun and help you set goals on your daily activity... you get a badge just for registering!

Click here to visit Berean Study Group Forums

May God bless you and keep you always!

Commending the Proverbs 31 Woman

Good afternoon my dear family in Christ!

Do you know any true Proverbs 31 women? Well, first off, what exactly is a Proverbs 31 woman? The bible says that she is a virtuous woman whose price is far above rubies (Proverbs 31:10). I love the term the bible uses, far above. It's such a distinction. Verses 11-31 spell out the many qualities of such a woman. I don't think it's a stretch to say that real Proverbs 31 women are rare in this world, and especially in today's society.

I am very blessed to tell you that I have had three true Proverbs 31 women in my life, and I just wanted to take a moment to give these women the commendation they deserve.

The first was my grandma Verdie. Never in my life have I met a sweeter, more giving woman. She never gave a second thought to putting someone before herself. I miss her dearly and look forward to seeing her again some day when the Lord calls me home.

The second is my loving wife. A true blessing to me in more ways than I can say, her heart lies in verses 20 and 27 more than anyone I've known. She is an amazing mother, wife and example of God's unconditional love. I don't know how she functions on a daily basis because she forsakes sleep nearly every night, giving her time to the needs of others. Our home would literally fall apart without her. And as for reaching her hand out to the needy, I don't think I've known her to be any happier than when she is helping someone in need. She will give food, clothing and many other things to anyone without a second thought. And to top the list, she does all this while being my caregiver as I walk the road of cancer every day. God blessed me beyond measure when He put us together.

Finally, the other Proverbs 31 woman in my life is my sister-in-law. I can't count how many times she has helped our family. Truth be told, I don't even know where we would be without her because when we were hit with hard times years ago she opened her doors to us and gave us a place to live until we were able to get back on our feet. I've known her for around eighteen years and I've seen her do this for so many people I can't even recount them all. She blesses my children with clothes all the time, and there's been many times when her and her husband will give my wife and I money just so we can get away from things or do something with our kids when finances are too tight for us. They even help take me to doctor appointments so my wife doesn't have to leave work during the week. All of this is amazing, but even more important than all that, she is a real, spirit-filled woman of God and it has been a blessing to watch her and learn from her as an example of Christ's love.

If you have a Proverbs 31 woman in your life, make sure they are receiving the recognition they deserve because as the bible tells us, they really are more valuable than rubies.

Salvation Before Creation

Good morning beloved.

My prayer for you today is that the peace and grace of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ will abide with you all day and through the night. While I sat here this morning thinking about what Jesus suffered for our sakes, a verse came to mind, and more particularly, one word - foreordained. The bible says that Jesus was foreordained before the foundation of the world and that He was manifest for us in these last times. Have you ever thought about what that really means? I'll be honest and tell you I think it usually goes over my head, but think about it for a minute. That means that before God even created the world that He had a plan for your salvation! What a glorious, all-knowing God we serve!

As you go about your day, give thanks to the Lord because He loved us so much that knowing what man would become He created us anyway, knowing He would have to suffer and die to save us from ourselves and our sins.

1 Peter 1:18-23

18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

Change of Direction

Hello my dear friends. If you've been here before you may have noticed that things look a bit different. After much consideration, I feel the Lord has led me to repurpose this blog from using it to write fiction to using it as a supplement to my bible study forum.

I just feel in my heart that the forum is the place I need to be focusing my energy, especially since I don't have a lot of energy to go around these days. I am planning on using this space to relate news and updates on the forum, our Facebook and Twitter pages and anything related that users of the forums will find helpful.

For anyone who might have been looking forward to the upcoming serial novel project I had planned to begin, I do apologize, but the Lord's work must come first as we get so close to the imminent return of our Saviour, Jesus Christ! Praise the Lord!!

Thank you for supporting me in these endeavors, and may God richly and abundantly bless you always!