Hello Everyone!

RedRx

RedRx

Well-Known Member
I’m a new member to the Rapture Forums. I just wanted to introduce myself and say hi.

It’s been a long road for me to arrive here. I grew up in the church and was baptized as a teenager. I never gave up my faith or belief in Jesus but I wasn’t living in faith and just lived for myself for quite a while. I stopped reading the Bible or going to church.

I’ve heard this more crudely characterized as “fire insurance“ but I don’t think that is how I viewed my life or God. I’d describe those years as me being selfish and career driven rather than looking to God for direction.

A couple of years ago in my mid 40s I found myself returning to the Word of God. There was a strange urgency I felt to start reading the Bible again that I still can’t explain. Thankfully this wasn’t the result of a traumatic event but it was still very startling to me.

I still am looking for a church home. I guess that’s my next step in walking with God again. You wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to find a church that still teaches the Bible. Then again maybe you can relate.

What’s amazing to me is the growing interest in the end times. It seems to be on a lot of our minds lately.

As a case in point when I decided to start reading and more importantly studying the Bible again what book did I decide to study in more detail? The Book of Revelation- I spent 3 months studying it verse by verse. I think I have more questions about it now than I did before I started.

At this point I’m just thankful God was so patient with me. I’m thankful that I still have time on this earth. And I’m thankful that God’s plan will be fulfilled even if things seem dire.

I’m also thankful that there is a place I can go to discuss these kinds of topics. Hopefully we can all comfort each other in these troubling times.

Remember this: Things aren’t falling apart in this world. They are falling into place.
 
seated with Christ

seated with Christ

Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
SarahRose said:
Welcome!! I’m newish here too (joined this year) and can relate with you in that Revelation was one of the first books I really got into with Bible study. It changed my outlook on everything going on today.

Glad you are here too!
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I welcome RedRx and SarahRose to this forum and I thank The Father for guiding y’all here. :)

My goal is to be a balanced Christian, not camping around any particular doctrine or field of study. Please take that in the spirit in which I say it, please, it’s something I wanted to address ever since I joined, little over a year ago.

I always heard that the book new Christian’s should read first is John’s Gospel.
 
RedRx

RedRx

Well-Known Member
When I had this urgent urge to come back to the Lord and start reading the Bible again I asked myself in my head “what should I read first?” Before I could even finish that thought a resounding answer came back to me: 1 John.

Keep in mind that at that point in my life a couple of years ago I hadn’t been reading the Bible for quite some time. I was lucky to know that there was a 1 John and I certainly didn’t know what wisdom was waiting for me there.

I couldn’t believe how much 1 John spoke to me and addressed things I was struggling with at the time.

If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. 1 John 1:6.

I ended up reading 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John that day. I did read the gospels soon after. The book that I chose for a deep study first was The Book of Revelation. That is not the book I would start with if I did it all over again.

The other thing I have to admit is that I hadn’t read through the entire Bible yet. But I am rectifying that as we speak.

I’m currently going through a reading plan that will have me finishing the entire Bible by the end of the year. I started this reading plan towards the end of July and I am scheduled to be finished just before the end of the year. That means it will have taken me about 5 months to complete it.

I have enjoyed it so much I plan to start a new reading plan on January 1st to do it again. On the one hand it is a bit embarrassing that I am only finishing my first read through of the entire Bible and I’m in my upper 40s. On the other hand it’s exciting to explore the entire Word of God and to see how everything somehow is woven together in such a nice package.

My plan is to do a similar reading plan as the one I am doing now. I’m reading from the Old Testament, New Testament, as well as a Psalm and a Proverb each day. I really like touching on all those areas every session. I think though I might try a different translation this time just for variety. I haven’t decided the details yet.

I’ve rambled on enough. Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. I can already tell it’s a great group of people here. Normally I wouldn’t want to be a member of anything that would let me join but in this case I will make an exception.
 
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