The Bible Story Family

  The endless variety of God’s creation never ceases to amaze. We recently visited the Como Park Conservatory which has a room dedicated entirely to ferns. There are more than 10,500 varieties of ferns in the world. They come in an astonishing variety of sizes, and shapes, in endless shades of green, but never with flowers Why? Because the Creator of the universe loves variety. Sometimes we get so focused on defending the Creator that we forget to glory in His creation. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork,” said the Psalmist. 200 billion, trillion stars in the universe. 900,000 species of insects. 10,000 bird species. 1.5 million animal species. 400,000 types of flowers. 25,000 species of fish. Glory in His creation. Stand in awe of the endless variety of His creative mind. Marvel at His handiwork. Rejoice in the beauty of our Father’s world. Savor the delicacies of His table. Exult in the splendor of His sunrises and sunsets. Deli...

  The question came out of the blue—             “Which of your writings have seen the widest geographical distribution?” It could have been the play “The House of Agatha Mystrie” which was re-printed in Dutch, or the article “The Forgotten Joseph” which was translated into Portuguese. But the most likely answer is “The Expository Sermon: Cultural or Biblical? That article first appeared in “The Journal of Ministry and Theology,” published by Baptist Bible Seminary. When I began teaching online for Liberty University, they reprinted it as part of their online publications called Scholars Crossing. There, the article has been downloaded 1300 times. Those downloads have taken place literally around the world. You can read “The Expository Sermon: Cultural or Biblical” without charge. Go to Scholars Crossing and click on Authors under the Browse heading. Scroll down to Allen, Robert and you will find the article available...

  The greatest gift ever given was our Savior, Jesus Christ. Here are some other gifts which make up our Christmas Gift Quiz. Go to biblestoryfamily.com/blog for the answers. 1.      How might Joseph and Mary have used the gifts from the Magi? a.       To treat arthritis. b.      To finance the trip down to Egypt. c.       To rent a room so they could get out of the stable. 2.      What is the approximate value in today’s money of the perfume Mary poured on the feet of Jesus? a.       A thousand dollars. b.      Ten thousand dollars. c.       A year’s wages. 3.      How many pounds of myrrh and aloes did Nicodemas give for the burial of Jesus? a.       75. b.      50. c.       25. 4.  ...

  Cowboy poet, R. P. Smith will be featured at “A Taste of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.” That event takes place in Las Vegas during the National Finals Rodeo events. The Poetry Gathering will happen at the Ahern Luxury Boutique Hotel, December 12-14. I first met R. P. Smith on the occasion of the One Hundredth Anniversary of Maxwell Baptist Church. He had written a poem in honor of that celebration and shared it with us during the Anniversary service along with other cowboy selections he had written. We also had a gospel quartet come that weekend along with several former pastors of the church. Attendance at the weekend events exceeded the population of the town of Maxwell. R.P. returned to Maxwell several times during our tenure as pastor. He shares a great testimony for Christ in a unique fashion as a cowboy poet. If you are attending the National Finals Rodeo, be sure to stop by the Ahern and hear him as well.

  We put up the tree this week. Not the Christmas tree (although that also happened). We put up the Advent Calendar which we have used every year since my mother created it for our children when they were young. You can see the picture above. The star that goes at the top is frayed, missing a point or two. But we haven’t even considered replacing it, it reminds us of a mother’s love. The date markers are so filled with pin pricks that they look more like pin cushions than calendar markers. But every pin prick is a memory of children whose excitement grew as the tree gained decorations. When we had four children (before the arrival of Christopher), they quickly figured out that the person who put on the first ornament December 1, would also be the one placing the star on the top of the tree December 25. We had to write down the year and who started the month, on the box which stored the ornaments. That way we had a record of who had the privilege of placing the star each year....