The caravan is moving to a new site. This gives me a better opportunity to reach more readers and those who are interested in all things scriptural. The site, here at blogger, will still be operational as there is a lot of good content still on it. I won't be moving all of my articles over to the new site. Currently, I have moved my Conversions in Acts series over there. I've been at this site for 4 1/2 years and even though I don't have much in the way of followers, I've still maintained the motivation to keep writing these articles. I hope you will join me at the new site! The Caravan's New Home

  A Bible phrase Study   Introduction In his second letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul began to conclude this letter with this statement, Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching (2 Timothy 4:2). I want to look at the second sentence, Be ready in season and out of season. This statement, overall, means preach (or teach) the word every chance you get. But sometimes, people want to limit when the gospel is talked about. We’ll explore this further in the article below.   But It’s not Sunday! The majority of the world do not want to hear anything about the bible or Jesus on any day except Sunday. True, Sunday is referred to as The Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10; Acts 20:7). However, God made all seven days. The psalmist writes, This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it (Psalms 118:24). Although, in context, he may have been talking about a specific day, we can utilize it for every

  Who Am I? Part 4   Introduction I was born and raised in the denominations, “baptized” as an infant, and all that time I thought I was a Christian simply because I went to church and led a relatively good life. But when I sat down and actually studied with someone, I realized that I wasn’t a Christian; even though I was “baptized” as a baby. There was more to it than just a little sprinkling of water.   Obedience to God When I first moved out here to Arizona, I couldn’t believe the number of churches (denominations) that were in existence. I said to myself, “There is no way that all of these churches can be right.” Instead of looking for answers, I stopped going to church altogether. I didn’t understand that the bible had those answers. I assumed the bible was just another history book that covered information from Creation to the end of the first century more or less. In September, 2001 I obeyed the gospel and became a New Testament Christian. It wasn’t difficult at

  Who Am I? Part 3   Introduction There are some in the religious world who view the bible in two ways. The Old Testament is a book of Law, and the New Testament is a book of Love. The latter, meaning that since the Old Law was taken out of the way and nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14), we aren’t under any sort of law even today. People will go one step further and state that God’s love is unconditional. We’ll look at both of these aspects and show, from scripture, that there is law and God’s love does come with conditions.   God’s Conditional Love in the Old Testament When you follow the story of Abraham (Gen. 12ff), to Isaac (Gen. 17ff), to Jacob (Gen. 25ff), to his 12 Sons, you know that God had plans for a special people; His chosen people. He gave them the law; initially the ten commandments and others as well (see Leviticus) as they were His chosen people because He loved them. It's not that He didn’t love the rest of creation, but He chose this specific group

  Who Am I? Part 2   Introduction Most of us should be familiar with the children’s song, Jesus Loves Me. The last line of the chorus is, The Bible tells me so. And this is how we know that God, and Jesus, loves us. We simply can’t assume based on the premise that since God exists, and created us, therefore He loves us. To understand it fully, we must go to God’s word.   The Things God has done for Us He Gave us a Place to Live— In Gen. 1, the creation chapter, we know that God loves us because He gave us a place to live. Air to breathe, food to grow and eat, animals for food and clothing, and the intelligence to care for ourselves. He Gave us a Soul— And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed (Genesis 2:7-8). The soul is what separates us from animals. We think, we reason, and we emote.

    Introduction You may recall the slogan, “Have it your way”, that made Burger King well-known in the fast-food industry. Going all the way back to 1974, they promoted a new service for their customers for them to enjoy a burger the way they wanted it, not the way the company made it. Unfortunately, in the religious world, it’s the exact same concept. People can actually go ‘church shopping’ to get religion their way. By-the-way, this isn’t God’s way but that doesn’t stop people, or churches, from doing it their way.   They Love it So! Going back to the Old Testament, during Jeremiah’s time, the children of Israel were going after foreign gods; worship the idols of the countries ‘round about them. The prophet writes, “An astonishing and horrible thing Has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?” (Jeremiah 5:30-31) In Jer. 25:11, the prophet s

  Who am I? Part 1   Introduction During the time of creation, in the book of Genesis, it is written, Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26-27). This, of course, is what sets us apart from the rest of God’s creation. We are made in His image therefore was are the primary of all creation.   Not the Physical Form There are some who think that if we are made in God’s image than He must have had a (insert physical oddity); be it: big ears, large nose, huge hands, etc. But that’s not it. It’s the moral code that is part of our souls. Even those who claim to be atheists have a moral code. They understand right from wrong and won’t upset the balance of t

  You might recall, late last year, I did a series on miracles. Today's bible article features the discussion of miracles; particularly snake-handling as referenced in Mk. 15:20. You can read the article by clicking HERE .

  Series Introduction   Introduction Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and asked the question, “Who am I?” You have a name, family, ethnic background, etc. But do you really know who you are? We’ll look at four aspects to answer this question, and I’ll be using myself as the example.   I Thought I knew As children, adults always ask the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” For most of us, our answer changes year by year. I, personally, wanted to be a professional baseball player but I don’t really like sports. In College, I wanted to be a computer programmer but I wasn’t very good at math; not to mention that I flunked out in two classes that were part of my major. While in college, I took an aptitude test that I should be in the television industry. I took the courses and then got a job with a local TV station, but it didn’t pan out in the long run. When I became a Christian in September 2001, that was when I realized who I was. It all ca

  Today is a guest article as I attempt to complete the beginning of my next article series. This article dates back to 1962 and has to do with the function of the church building, et al. Not everyone understands it sole use is for the assembly. The apostle Paul writes,   Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil;  for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:16-17) Please enjoy this article when you click here .

  The Seven Chosen, Martin's Bible Cartoons Text— Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables .” (Acts 6:1-2 NKJV)   Introduction When some look at the phrase, serve tables, they immediately think of a restaurant where people gather at a table and a server (waiter/waitress) takes your order. But we have to suspend our modern ideas and think back to that moment in the first century to get a better understanding of the phrase. Were the apostles concerned about giving up preaching to serve food? Or was it something else?   The Disciples were Multiplying Going back to verse 1, we are told the disciples were multiplying. This is a good thing, obviously, but let’s go further back. Acts 2

  Introduction Starting tomorrow, I'll begin an infrequent series of articles on words and phrases found in the bible. The reason for this is that sometimes we skim the scriptures and not get the full meaning of what is taking place in passages. Other times people will change the meaning of a word or phrase to get it to mean what they want it to mean rather than what God has it to mean. This page will be a focal point for all word and phrase studies over the next several months and/or years. This is be placed in my important article collection which you can find by clicking the three dashes in the upper left corner of the screen. Phrases "Serve tables" from Acts 6 (forthcoming) Words

  What is Your Life, Part 4   Introduction Remember during the cold, winter weather, you used to go outside and exhale just to see your breath? As children, it was always neat to see your own breath as it left your mouth. However, that breath is visible for only a brief moment, and then it disappears. Our life is quite similar to that image. James writes, Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away . Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” (James 4:13-15) This is a constant reminder that we only have a short time here on earth. Whether we live for 85 years or, even, 969 years, like Methuselah, it is still temporary.   The Magic Number I’ve posted this at least twice before, in other articles, but I