Read through the Bible in a Year

Ahhh....New Years Resolutions are upon us. Every year, for as long as I can remember (since like second grade??)...I have had a "new years resolution" to read through the Bible in a year. And every year, I have failed dismally. In order to read through the Bible in a year, I have always tried to read a little each day in order to not have to read like 6 books in one day to get caught up. Last year, i had my reading for the day emailed to me. That worked till about April, when I got so far behind that I gave up on the read through in a year thing. The positive thing about 2009's attempt at reading through the Bible is that I now carry my Bible around with me at all times. So i can read it whenever I have a spare minuet, or if I am thinking of a verse and want to remind myself just how it goes, or if I ma facing a particular struggle and need to remind myself what the word of God has to say about it, etc. But the effects of my abandoning the Read the Bible in a Year plan is; My "quite time" gets reduced to a few minuets a day, a few days a week and my spiritual walk suffers. Its sad. Whats even sadder is that this has repeated itself for nearly two decades, year after year. While I am POSITIVE I have read the Bible in its entirety, I think its important for me to read the whole thing in a relatively short period of time so I can see some themes, patterns and so forth. In addition to the "reading in a year" I also usually do a devotional to help me focus on a specific part of scripture and really just dig in, looking for personal applications. "Better is a little with understanding" as the old expression goes. So, once again I am making it my goal to read through the Bible in 2010. sigh. I have renewed dedication this year though, Over the last several months I have seen some heresy develop in some of my friend's faiths. These are friends with whom I was raised side by side, and fed on a relatively similar diet of Biblical teaching. Ive given a LOT of thought to how this happens and the conclusion i have come to is that in my upbringing, and in my friends upbringing there was a strong emphasis on Spiritual connectedness with God. On the Spiritual feelings and leadings. I am not saying I don't believe these things are important they are, but these things I think were emphasised OVER Bible reading. My friends and I have all probably read through the Bible at some point. We memorized Scripture and some of us still do, but I think the danger came in when we "pretty much know what the Bible says." The Enemy will use any and all opportunities to poison of minds, and even our religion. The blessed thing about the Word of God is that if you follow its teaching and hold everything up against it as a measurement of accuracy, you can scarcely go wrong. I believe its a lack of being entrenched in the Living and Holy Word of God that breeds this heresy and in some extreme cases for people to abandon the faith all together. While trying to determine what to say to my friends who have adopted strange faiths, I realized Im at JUST AS MUCH RISK of believing a false doctrine when I am not studying the scriptures daily. AND, I cannot effectively talk with my friends about the things they now believe that are unbiblical, because I have a hard time finding specifically in the Bible where it teaches contrary to what they now believe. So, Read through the Bible in a Year, take 18 (or so)....

• This year I am going to print out a chart with all the chapters of the Bible and cross them off as I go. I think this will encourage me and help me not fear when i get off track for a few days, because I can pick up again anywhere.
• I think I will also start reading in the minor prophets and the epistles, instead of the books of Moses and the Gospels...just to mix things up....
• I'm going to blog about my reading progress and about the treasures I find in the Word.
• I'm going to once again enlist the support of my Christian Mentor...but in order to do that I have to start working on my devotional again because she believes that was helpful to me when I was doing it before. It really, really was. And, as my Mentor, I respect her opinion on the matter....I need to do a devo with this Bible reading anyways....
• I'm going to look for other people who are reading through the Bible in a Year OR who are working on reading PART of the Bible every day or however many times per week...

Any of you doing the "read the Bible in a year" as your new years resolution? Any old pros out there who can offer me tips? Anyone looking for an accountability partner? I want to make this my New Years REVOLUTION!!!!

Craigslist: The Newest Target in the War on Prostitution - Democratic Underground

Is Prostitution a "Victimless Crime?" Craigslist: The Newest Target in the War on Prostitution - Democratic Underground Shared via AddThis How effective do you think a "war on prostitution" is likely to be? It seems that prostitution is as old as time itself. In this post I'm talking strictly about "consenting" adults who work in the sex trade industry. Often referred to as a "victimless crime" I have to wonder if the men and women who are forced into "survival sex" are truly not victims. After all, research has distinctly displayed a pattern of childhood sexual assault in association with working in the sex trade industry as a matter of fact, the average age for a prostitute to begin her career is between 12-14 years old. Prostitutes are at risk for assault, rape, murder, poverty, substance abuse/addiction and sexually transmitted infections. There is also the factor that these individuals feel that selling their bodies is their only means to provide for themselves, and perhaps their children. The link between poverty and prostitution is so strong that prostitution is almost nonexistent in other socioeconomic levels. Often the choice seems to come down to making the rent or offering up their body for money. Frequently, prostitutes are undereducated and lack the skills to acquire gainful employment to support themselves and their families. They have often already exhausted the resources in their community, don't qualify for them, are unaware of them or they simply are not available in the area in which they live. Prostitutes with children may be afraid to seek out help because of the very real risk of losing their children. Sometimes they have addictions to drugs or alcohol and sell their bodies in order to feed the addiction. In short, a number of factors play into the choice to prostitute themselves and it rarely has anything to do with the sex worker *wanting* to trade their body for money. Survivors of the sex trade industry often look back on their history with a mixture of shame, guilt, and anguish. At the same time, many feel they were simply doing what they HAD to do at the time. Aside from the prostitute, there are other victims when humans are exploited sexually. Some of them include spouses and partners of the person soliciting sex when they become infected with an STD/STI or when they discover their partner has been unfaithful, they may feel ashamed or insecure. Children and dependants of both the prostitute and the solicitor become victims when a break down of the relationship between their parents occurs. Or when a prostitute's children are removed from her care and placed in foster care because they were in danger in the home where their mother worked and/or because she could not care for their needs on her salary or whilst in jail for her crime. Indeed, even the solicitor becomes a victim. There is often guilt and shame associated with soliciting sex, they may become infected with a disease that may prevent them from having normal sexual relationships in the future. Solicitors may suffer from sexual addiction, or an inability to have a normal healthy sexual relationship. Basically, prostitution is no "victimless crime." So what should be done about it? Is it good that police surf craigslist to uncover prostitution rings in order to bust the prostitutes and the solicitors? I guess my response is "yes and no." Yes, when they are finding prostitutes of all ages who are being victimized and exploited against their will or as minors. No in cases where individuals of legal age are consensually offering sex in exchange for money. But wait a second...didn't I just say that pretty much EVERYONE suffers where prostitution exists? Yes, I sure did, but my thought is that this is not a problem for law enforcers. This should be a problem for social workers, who help men and women find the resources to get out of or avoid prostitution. It should be an issues for policy makers to implement more programs for people living in poverty, for those with substance abuse issues, for victims of sexual assault, better housing for people who cannot afford housing and quality education that can lead to money-making trades. It should be an issue for therapists who help individuals overcome a sexual addiction that leads them to seek out prostitutes or to find other means of healthy sexual release and interpersonal affection through learning skills to build relationships. It should be a problem for couples counselors and family counselors that works to restore the broken relationships that occur in situations of past use of solicited sex or that have been split up after a parent begins prostitution. And, without question this should be a concern for the church. There are churches in every community across America. The church is in a unique position to offer hope and help to ALL victims affected by prostitution. The church is commanded to LOVE their neighbors- even the ones using or working as prostitutes. Its up to the church to ministering to these individuals with a loving and non-judgemental heart, not just passively (IE letting them sit in your pew on Sunday morning if they happen to wonder in off the street) but PROACTIVELY seeking out people and offering them the hope that ONLY Jesus can give, by praying for them and their families, by pointing them in the direction of services in the community, and by opening their eyes to the sin that is intrinsic of prostitution. We are called NOT to do this because we are holier than them, but because we are as retched of sinners as they are; because before we knew Jesus we were every bit as hopeless, because we were condemned before we were made aware of our own ugly sins. In communities where prostitution is a significant problem, specific outreaches should be established to help those suffering under the tyranny of the sex trade industry. Believers should search their hearts about volunteering with or financially supporting ministries like "Hookers for Jesus" (hookersforjesus.org) a ministry of former prostitutes and strippers for those who have been involved in the sex trade industry or the Dream Center's "Project Rescue" (dreamcenter.org) that offers housing and assistance to women escaping prostitution. After all, Jesus did not want the woman found guilty of adultery to be stoned to death under the law, rather he wanted to offer her love and forgiveness- with the commandment to "sin no more." Remember that Jesus himself was a friend to prostitutes- that he died for their sins as much as he did your own and that he commands us to love and reach out to the lost. In Christ, Zealia

Uncompromising, but lonely

Psalm 42

¹¹Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.

Psalm 43

¹Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! ²For You are the God of my strength; why have You rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? ³O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your dwelling places. ⁴Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God. ⁵Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God. Hmmm...I think these verses flow well THIS way. Remember the Bible was not written with chapter and verse, those were added later t make it easier to find things, anyways.... I feel like this tonight. I feel the ungodliness of my nation causes me much grief. An interaction with a friend caused me to feel really depressed and the verse 42:11 popped into my head...I looked it up and read on...the rest of the following verse was actually exactly what made me sad about my interaction with my friend. I feel like I just see so many Christians around me making compromises. Compromises I cannot understand. I feel like the Christians I know should be with me, standing by my side on these issues and encouraging one another to live boldly according to the Word. Instead, I find many of my Christian friends don't share my convictions about contemporary social issues and about major life decisions, they actually attack me for my beliefs accusing me of being self-centered and self-righteous. But I just don't feel like I can compromise on some things, I feel convicted...I don't say this judgmentally of these people and their choices, its not to me to judge the heart, but I don't understand how they can attack me, judge me. Oh, this is the worlds lamest first entry...I can't be specific about the situation and there's no way for you to know if me or my friend are in the right or wrong without specifics, but that's not the important part. I guess I'm just hurt when I see people make decisions and then accuse me of being the one with the problem when I don't join them in something I feel convicted about. It makes me feel so very lonesome, which is not how I want to feel when the task of witnessing to the world seems so very big and I feel very small. I guess just this verse captured what I was feeling tonight and it helped to know I'm not the the only God-fearer who has ever felt like I was standing on the truth all alone...Ill just cry out to God like the Psalmist did. Take cheer, friends! -Zealia