Teen-Fortress.com

Hey Members,

I just posted the first Teen-Fortress.com Bible Reading Plan. I know that many Christians today (especially young ones) don't spend enough time reading God's Word. This is a HUGE problem, because as the the Bible says, God's Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths(Ps. 119:11). And without that light, how will we know where to go?

I've noticed that one good way to combat this insufficient Bible Reading, is to use Bible Reading plans. That's why I've posted a Bible Reading plan in the Members' Lounge. Every member who would like to, can take part in this Bible Reading plan. I'll post dates on the newly updated Calendar in the Lounge so that we can read together. That way, we can discuss the passages that we're reading in the "Bible Reading Plan" Topic in the Forums.

To start, I've chosen the book of Ecclesiastes. I was reading some of it myself, and I see that it's a very interesting book that, in my opinion, seems good for discussion. It's also not very long, which is why the period I hope for us to finish it in is just  20 days. I'm sure it won't be hard for anyone to keep up with this plan because kept the daily passages short. 

I'm studying this book in depth right now so that when we read it together, I'll be able to answer as many of your questions as accurately  as possible.

Lemme know what you guys think of these new updates in the comments section below.

Bye! God bless!

Hey everyone! How are y'all doing? It's MK! I'm finally doing my first "non-business" post. OK, I made that word up. What that means is that this is the first post that I'm doing that's not about the site, the club, newsletter or anything like that.:P

So here I begin...

I noticed that there are only two comments on the whole blog (one of them is by me :/). So I wonder if you guys either don't know how to comment, what to say in your comments, or maybe you just don't read blog posts.

Well, the first one's really easy. To comment on a post, you can either click on the title of the post you want to comment on, or you can click on the "comments" link in the upper-right corner of every post paragraph.These will both take you to the main page of the post and if you go to the bottom of the page, you'll see a comment box.

Second, in your comments you... well, you just comment on the post you just read. It's like the writer's post is kinda like a message to you and you respond to their message in the comments area.

The comments on a post are also meant to go on like a discussion. You're not limited to a certain amount of comments per post. When you leave a comment you can come back later to see if there was any response and if there was, you can respond back, so it becomes a discussion on each post.

Hmmm, well, the last one, I'm not sure what to say about that. I know I need to try to blog often so that you guys'll always have something new to read and comment on and so y'all can get a better understanding of how to make your own posts.

Anyway, enough about commenting. It's time for the real purpose of this post which is to share with y'all some of my Bible Study notes. These are notes that I took about a week or two ago when I was studying Proverbs 4:23.

MK's Bible Study Notes - Proverbs 4:23

First of all, let's get the text:

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:23 KJV)

OK, so, it's a pretty short text, pretty simple seeming. But from the first time I ready, I never fully understood it completely. I always felt that it was kind of a strange text - somewhat unclear to me. That's why I decided to take this little text and look deeper and see if I could get a clearer understanding of it.

You'll notice that I practically always use the King James Vision of the Bible when I study. It's kinda hard for me to explain the main reason why, but it'll probably become clear in the near future. One less important reason is because my Bible commentaries are based on the KJV.

Anyway, I'll make this short and snappy.

First, let's look at the word "heart" in the text. What exactly is meant by the word "heart" here?

Nowadays when we say heart, we mean like, the place where our emotions lie. But in those days, for the Hebrews the bowels (I guess that means guts or stomache) were the place where emotions lie and the heart was the place where intellegence lies - the mind to us.

So if you really look into it, you see that in our words this would be "Keep thy mind with all diligence". Having a pure mind is the first step to a sinless life. Luke 6:45 says:

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. (Luke 6:45)

Try replacing the word "heart" every time you see it in the text above with the word "mind" and it makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

This text shows us the great need to give our minds completely over to God and allow Him to keep them there, because He's the only person who can keep out minds pure.

In a nutshell this text is saying: Guard your minds! Because what is in your minds is what will come out in your actions. Ask God to keep your minds pure, so that you can be like Him.

- MissionaryK -