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I am looking forward to reading through the Bible with everyone over this next year.  Below I have given you a basic outline of the first two chapters of Genesis.  I have found it helps my mind to work through the text if I have an outline.  This outline comes from “The Outline Bible”

Genesis 1–2:25 (The Outline Bible)

God’s Working Schedule (1:1–2:19)

A. First day: creation of light (1:3–5): “Then God said, ‘Let there be light.’ ” He then divides the light from the darkness.

B. Second day: creation of space and water (1:6–8): He separates the atmospheric, upper water from the earthly, lower water.

C. Third day: creation of plant life (1:9–13): First he separates the water from the land. The earth then brings forth green grass, plants, trees, and vegetation of every kind.

D. Fourth day: creation of sun, moon, and stars (1:14–19)

E. Fifth day: creation of fish and fowl (1:20–23)

F. Sixth day: creation of land animals and people (1:24–31; 2:7–20)

1. The brute creatures: livestock and all wild beasts (1:24–25)

2. The blessed creature, who is given two things:

a. The image of God (1:26–27)

b. The instructions from God (1:26–31; 2:15–19)

(1) People are to rule over all nature (1:26, 28),

(2) to fill the earth with their own kind (1:28),

(3) to cultivate and care for their beautiful home, the Garden of Eden (2:15),

(4) to eat from any tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (2:16–17),

(5) and to provide names for all the other creatures (2:19–20).

G. Seventh day: God rests (2:1–6): His creative work is complete and is pronounced good. God blesses and sets apart the seventh day.

II. God’s Wedding Schedule (2:20–25)

A. The making of Eve (2:20–22): Eve, the first woman, is formed from the flesh and bone of Adam’s side.

B. The marriage of Eve (2:23–25): Eve is returned to Adam’s side. “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This marks history’s first marriage.

Willmington, H. L. The Outline Bible, Ge 1–5. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999.

Guys,

Before we get started I thought it would be good to put down some ground rules on comments. Common sense dictates that you not write/say anything on this blog that you wouldn’t want your wife, parents, friends, boss or anyone else to hear. This is a public space and anything you put out here stays out here for eternity and is available to anyone in the universe. Comment wisely.

All comments must be respectful. It is my hope that we can have vigorous discussions through this blog but let us not mimic the angry, disrespectful pattern of the world in our discussions. Since this blog is open to all I feel I must say that anyone that is abusive toward others on this blog will be banned from future commenting. Let us focus our comments on that which is edifying. If we disagree let us do so with grace and courtesy.

No politics. I can think of little that divides one man from another today more than politics. I have read the Bible through a number of times and I have never seen a verse that indicates that one must be a Democrat or Republican in order to be a member of the family of God. We can and should discuss the great moral issues of our day as they relate to Godly manhood but let us not fall into the politicians trap of denigrating each other based on party politics. There are plenty of blogs that cover politics. Please look to one of those as your political comment outlet.

No profanity or sexual comments.

I reserve the right to ban anyone who I feel violates the rules above or the spirit of the blog itself.

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

This is the first post on a blog I hope will be a meaningful resource to Christian Men everywhere.

It has been my experience that I enjoy the abundant life Jesus promised me (John 10:10b) when I live as He commanded in Luke 9:23

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (NKJV)

I don’t know about you but I want to be the man God created me to be.  This naturally begs the question, “For what did God create me?”  If you read through scripture you will find that the answer to that question is implicit in every line.  God created me to be in a loving relationship with Him.  Many of us have spent years in an agonizing search for meaning in our life; for our purpose.  Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life” has been a huge best seller because people are indeed searching for the answer to that question; “What is the purpose of my life?”

The answer to that question has been starring you in the face all your life and I just gave it to you a moment ago.  The answer is your purpose in life is to be in a loving relationship with God, your creator.  That’s it!  Everything else flows from that.  When we walk away from a loving relationship with God we are walking at cross purposes (or should I say conflicted purposes).  Conflict in our life is inevitable.

Well, I could go on and on but I won’t.  The real issue here is how do we get back to and maintain a loving relationship with God.  It starts with spending time with Him.  That means daily time in God’s word and in prayer.  Do you have a time each day you spend in such activity?  How well do relationships in your life hold up when you give them little or no time and attention?  I suspect the quality of your relationships are directly proportional to the time and attention you give them.  You need to make a commitment to your purpose.  You need to deny yourself the daily distractions that rob you of your relationship with God.  You need to step up, be a man, deny yourself, and invest in your relationship with God daily!

This blog is about building a strong relationship with God through daily Bible reading, prayer, and scripture memorization.  Each day, starting January 1, 2010, you will find a Bible passage for the day.  As I read each days passage I will be looking for what God has to tell us about Godly manhood.  I’ll provide a comment on what I found and ask that you join me in that conversation.  I believe topics will range from being a Godly man to being a Godly husband, father, and citizen.

Further, every week will have its own Bible Memorization Verse conveniently located at the top left of the blog.  Most of these verses, by the way, will be pulled from the wonderful discipleship series entitled “MasterLife”.  If you memorize each of these verses you will be armed with a strong shield to protect you from the vicissitudes of life.  You will also have a leg up on the “MasterLife” homework if you are participating in that course.

Okay, I’m sure you’re asking “What’s up with this MasterLife reference?”  “MasterLife” is a discipleship training course through which the men in my church are currently progressing.  One of the requirements of that course is the memorization of certain scripture.  Since I don’t want these guys overwhelmed with competing verses I’m attempting to track with that course work.  They are still great verses to memorize even if you aren’t taking the class so stop your grumbling and start memorizing!

Finally, it is my hope to build a reference library of suggested reading covering topics on marriage, finance, fatherhood, spiritual growth and anything else that will help us on our journey to being the men God created us to be.  I’m not sure just yet if that library will be on a separate page of this blog or not but I’m sure you’re all intelligent fellas and will find it once it is available.  You are, of course, welcome to make suggestions for this list through blog comments so do share you reading gems with the rest of us.

It is my hope to have Twitter enabled through this site so you can be automatically notified when there is a comment of post.

It is important to note that if you read all of the passages throughout the entire year you will have read through the entire Bible by December 31, 2010.

Guys, I’m hoping this thing will be a virtual men’s ministry encouraging us all to be the men God created us to be.  It won’t happen in my power but in His all things are possible.  I pray this blog will be a blessing to all that participate.

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill