Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year:


It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The old song says "everywhere you go." This is the best time of the year for most of us. Christmas brings out the "child" in many who have fond memories of Christmas past.

For me it is a time to contact as many as I can and say, MERRY CHRISTMAS. I do this in person if I can; if not, there is the telephone, facebook, classmates, and this dear old blog.

Trans Figuring Ivan has been a great blessing for us this year. The novel has reached the hearts of old friends and brought us into contact with so many new friends.

 A dear old friend emailed - then called - to order four novels for his friends for Christmas presents. We talked for over half an hour. That was a great blessing for me and such a nice present.

The Book Signing events, interviews, and speaking engagements have been wonderful. We are looking for more opportunities after Christmas.

Long's Christian Book & Outlet in Altamounte Springs, Florida has a few copies of Trans Figuring Ivan on their shelves under the LOCAL AUTHORS label.

From our house to yours - MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Thankful for long time friends

A long time friendly Christian Book Store and Outlet - (Long's of Altamonte Springs, FL) - was visited recently. It brought back so many memories of happy days with my daughter and shopping.

Long's is a family must stop around Christmas time.This time the visit was with my son who lives near their new location. The prices are still the best in the area on great gift items.

We were pleased to find three copies of my new Christian novel, Trans Figuring Ivan, on the shelf and two in reserves.They are in a great location : Circuit City Plaza on East Altamonte Dr.

Stop by and tell them your friend, Ty Epling sent you.

Hope you are enjoying the holidays.

THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving Day comes but once a year. Yet most of us are thankful year around for something or someone. Those of us that are Christians turn to the One who gave Himself and thank Him.

This is an everyday thankfulness; but we come together as a family on Thanksgiving Day to count our many blessings, and enjoy spending time with each other. To those family and friends that we can not be with we call, email, or blog - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thankful for Friends

Great Day at Searstown Mall Titusville, Florida
The Epling family had a great day at the Titusville, Florida Searstown Mall last Saturday. Several old friends stopped by to talk and purchase (Trans figuring Ivan) for Christmas presents.There were new friends made also.

That is one of the wonderful things about getting out with your family. You get the benefit of meeting a lot more people in different age groups.I talked with several merchants who were busy displaying their Christmas sales. The economy is down here as it is in other parts of our country. Still, there is optimism and good will to be seen. Some say we will experience a slump like we did in the 70's; but they also say - we made it through that tough time - we will make it through again.

We would like to take this time to wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving. May you and your family be gathered together in joy and thanksgiving.

"If we say...

Happy November to all blogs. We have so much to be thankful for in our part of the world. We are free to study our Bible and to worship our Lord Jesus Christ. That alone brings us great joy.

I would like to thank you for the emails and comments sent in private. If you want them published, you have to comment here or let me know you want them published.

Our study of First John continues with verse six. "If we say that we have fellowship with Him..."
If refers back to the the condition one experiences, while in fellowship with God who is light. Is it possible to "say" we have fellowship while we do not have fellowship? Yes.

We as Christians may say one thing and do another. Non believers may be deceived into believing that they are Christians. Stated another way; we can say we are Christians and in fact not be Christians. In short, saying does not make it so.

In fact, the Holy Spirit through John says if we "walk in darkness," while saying we are having fellowship with God, "we lie, and do not the truth."

Let me stress we are not saying that being in darkness causes one to lose their salvation. We are discussing fellowship with God, not sonship.

We know that light and darkness are matters of fellowship with the Father, and sonship is a matter of life and death eternally. Darkness for a Christian is to be out of fellowship with the Father due to disobedience. We as Christians do sin; but the heavenly advocacy of Christ our Savior keeps us acceptable to our heavenly Father.

Sin is not acceptable to the true Christian. Lack of fellowship with the Father becomes unbearable, though for some repentance can be a lengthy process. Sin will lead to more sin and more darkness until the Christian who says he is walking in the light will show that he is far from the God of light. Then he begins to drift away from his brethren who are in fellowship with the Father. Those in fellowship continue to love and pray for those who walk in darkness.

This Then Is The Message (click for web page)

Our Fellowship with the Apostle John, with the Father, with the Holy Spirit, and you in the first four verses of first John has been wonderful. Our joy has been full. (1 John 1:1-4)

Now is the time to move on - to see the conditions that led to that fellowship. This then is The message: "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all", from verse five.

What fellowship does light have with darkness? The answer is obvious; none. The old adage still holds, that before you agree to have fellowship with a person, you better make sure what ship that fellow is in.

Joy that we experienced by fellowship in the spirit with our Savior comes only when we are free of the darkness of the old man that was our life before salvation. Sin nature separates us from the joy of walking in the spirit and in the light of our Lord.

We, little children of God, have had our sin natures nailed to the cross with Jesus, and sin no longer has dominion over us. We cry with Apostle Paul, "I am crucified with Christ", and agree with him that " sin shall not have dominion over you."

When we obey God and come to see ourselves IN Christ more than Christ in us, we begin to let Christ live His eternal life through His child. This is fellowship in the light.

First John 1: 1-10

It is here. The first day of October 2009, and the coolness of Fall has come. We are blessed.

Our study of First John continues to excite us. Though we are moving through and from the first four verses - we are not leaving the subject of these verses - "the Word of life." Our Holy Spirit gives us the reason and the Person through the Apostle John for this writing.

The purpose is evident. We have had "fellowship" with the Father and with the Son. Through the Word; and in the process of prayer, our spirits have been in contact with our God, and our "joy" has been made "full."

We trust that you have had revival in your spirit in these first four verses. We have experienced actual closeness in the spiritual presence of our Father and our Savior through our Holy Spirit. I do not know about you, but I hate to leave these first four verses because my joy is full.

Now we see in verses five through seven the beginnings of the way to test our lives as children of the Father. The first thing we must know: "God is light."

God is moral purity. There is not one speck of "darkness" in the Father of lights. Here we see two great symbols. Light and its absence - darkness. Light represents purity while darkness represents evil. God is Light.

"God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all."

Let us leave, for today, with a quote from Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe. It is very relevant.
"In these days when many Christians think they have fellowship with God but do not; and when many religious people think they are true sons of God; it is important that we apply these tests and examine our own lives carefully."

Road Trip

It is good to be home again. Great to travel and visit old family and friends -
Road Trip to West Virginia and Ohio was wonderful. Took us away from posting here but we are ready to continue our study. Stay tuned.

Walking with God

"Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law." I trust that you have prayed for and received wondrous things from this study of 1 John 1:1-10.

John walked with God. Here he announces Christ Jesus. He makes his Savior known by the fact of the physical and the spiritual contact with the Logos (Word)and the Zoe (Life). The Word of God is a name for God in total. "And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God." Rev. 19:13.

John declares we (the apostles) have seen IT. We have seen The God Life - the Zoe. IT was manifested (in the flesh as a man) - Eternal Life was/is in the God-Man. This excites the child of God. That which he announces; we have heard, seen, and touched God's Eternal Life in Christ, is available to every Christian - every day for eternity.

That which we have seen and fellowship with we share with others, and That makes our Joy full. The INCARNATION - God In Man - the God Man makes fellowship with God the Father - God the Son - God the Holy Spirit possible.

What glorious wondrous things we experience here. We paused a long time to rejoice in the eternal life fellowship with our Father - Son - Holy Spirit in worship.

Main Theme of 1 John 1:1-10 - Father and Family

A wheel is made up of a hub in the center, spokes that support outward, and the outer rim that holds all together. Here in 1 John 1:1-10 we find that Jesus is the hub.

Our first four verses form one long elliptical sentence from on "that which was from the beginning." We discovered that the "that" is much more than the person Jesus. We see that He is the Life of God manifest in a human body. Jesus is the Logos, the collective thought of God, the Word. I experienced zoon, (ζωη’), eternal life, as God life—for the purpose of complete worship in Christ Jesus.

Letting the Holy Spirit lead me through all this amazing truth let me see more of my Savior. A sweet communion developed. A time of worship of Him as my Lord and my God.

The purpose of the first four verses was to "Declare Jesus Christ."

From this hub: we find two main spokes; that begin with the word "that."
1) That we might have fellowship (1:3)
2) That we might have joy (1:4)

Joy is used only once in this letter; but it is experienced all through this epistle, as an expression of what comes from close fellowship with Christ our Lord.

I had close fellowship with my Lord during this study, and I had sweet fellowship in the Spirit with my Pastor during and after Prayer Meeting last night.

1 John 1: 1-10 - (Parables - message)

Here is a young Pastor with an old message: (Pastor Patton) - What did He Say? Parables

We are still in our 1 John Bible Study. Pray that you are meditating upon 1 John 1:1-10. There is so much communion material in these precious verses. Please share what our Teacher - Comforter has shown you.

Thank You Contributors

A great big THANK YOU goes out to our contributors.


If you click on the TITLE: Thank You Contributors, it will take you to online resources that you can use in many ways. You are also encouraged to click on the IFB-KJV button to see our GOOD NEWS on their blog roll.


We trust you have had a very profitable week-end. As you can see from our comments, 1 John is very personal, in fact, the Holy Spirit has written to the (τεκνον), little children of God the Father in this letter. The only other book of the Bible that comes close to being so tender to His children is the Song of Solomon where we see spiritual marriage.

I am delighted that our Teacher is stirring the hearts of our students, and they are passing that on to all of us in this personal Bible study. Thanks for reading our pages up to now.

I'm still stuck, in awe, on the first word - "That." Why did the Holy Spirit use this neuter word to start His letter? I am using the expository method of study for the first ten verses. I am letting our Teacher speak to my mind - Word by Word.

Remember, we are looking for "spokes"for our "wheel." We got Gen. 1:1, and Jn. 1:1 from "the beginning"of our first verse. I received another spoke (thought) from the Word - That.

2Thess. 2:6 -ye know... what withholdeth... (Greek - "THAT" which restraineth) goes on to use the masculine in verse 7 - HE who letteth (hindereth) the man of sin will be taken out of the way of the man of sin. The power that holds back the Antichrist lives within every child of God.

"That" speaks of God - but also of His omni qualities. God has always been. God is everywhere present. God is all powerful. This is the "That" - that that opens our study.

The awe that thrills John and excites us; is the awesomeness of God the Son manifest, so that we mere humans can see for ourselves, with our own eyes --- God. The apostles heard the Word, they saw God, they touched the Almighty with their own hands. John is excited to report this FELLOWSHIP with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Whats more, he exclaims that ALL the Father's children can enjoy this fellowship, and that makes our JOY full.

WELL - GLORY!

We see the first purpose in the Spirit writing through John:

1. THAT we (children) might have fellowship (1:3). This fellowship is communion - it is not union with Christ. Our daily fellowship (communion) changes, our sonship (union) never changes.

We are accepted in the Beloved. Cleansed from confessed sin, we have sweet fellowship.

COMMENTS

COMMENTS are posted in the comments section near the bottom of the blog each day. Please feel free to post your comments on 1 John verses 1-10.

Here are some of our recent comments concerning overview of 1 John:


Contributor J B:
In these opening verses of greeting, John establishes his position with Jesus; his history of personal, first-hand knowledge; his deep belief and his current walk with the Lord.More importantly, John underlines Christ's identity; His position in the history of creation, His life-giving power and the reality of His existence for all time.John begins to introduces his purpose in writing to his audience and to motivate them to hear what remains.The first readers of this letter from the apostle John were, like us, in challenging times for Christians; false doctrines were being spread, some were being led astray and others were questioning. John models for us the concern we should have for our brothers and sisters, that they should be encouraged and built up in truth and their paths should lead them away from doubt and into full knowledge of the truth.
July 13, 2009 4:29 PM
THE HANSON MANSION said...

this is the third time try and trying to post. here goes. we are not traveling to heaven alone. many Christians try to isolate themselves from the body of Christ and then fall prey to false doctrines and stinking thinking. the Holy Spirit inspired John to write this letter to remind us of the importance of church family and to be able to provide a spiritual checkup when times of doubt come to the Christian life.
July 13, 2009 6:15 PM

Contributor ktfordalord:
on an introduction to the first four verses:I really like how personal the introduction is. John uses the pronoun "we" to include all believers, but he also includes himself. He is writing a personal testimony to share. What is he testifying about? This question solely is answered by verse one. He testifies of his experience with "the Word of life." I believe this is not only his lifespan as a Christian, but the eternal life (past, present, and future) that he received in Christ. This is a testament of our heritage, our relationship with our heavenly Father and our existence as children of the King.

Contributor buttercup:
Wow! My first thought is that “my joy may be full” How exciting! I feel that people often see Christians as people who are glum and stoic rather than joyful. I have been caught in this trap of seriousness before and really think it is not God’s full intention. As Pilgrim, we must put our burdens aside to experience joy. This verse (1 John 1: 4) reminds me of Jesus’ own words in John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” The chorus to one of my favorite youth group songs in high school reads, “Abundant Life, Abundant Life, Abundant Life is YOURS.” I desire the abundant life of Christ, full of joy from knowing Him. The first three verses of 1 John explain that I can do this by reading the Word and learning from those who were physically present with him and experienced him through their own senses: see, hear, touch, even his smell (which is not mentioned, but assumed).
Also important to me is verse one; he was present in the beginning, the Creator of all things. He chose to walk the planet with His creation, love and teach us, and die for us so that we may have an abundant life full of joy. Noah Webster defined joy in 1812 as “The passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; pleasurable feelings or emotions caused by success, good fortune, and the like, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire; gladness; exhilaration of spirits; delight.” We can ‘expect good.’ Have a JOY-filled day!

Thank you and keep posting comments on what our Teacher gives you.

BIBLE STUDY PROMISE

IF is the key word. If we are determined to learn, and if we will set aside a half-hour each day, God will teach us His Word. That is a promise.

The Bible is God's Word to us. If we let the Word light our path it will be our daily bread. For many who read and comment on this blog the daily Quiet Time, and a short time of prayer is not satisfactory. We sense that God wants us to get more...much more from the Bible.

Let me encourage you to join me for the next two days in Bible study of 1 John 1:1-10. We will come back to report what our Teacher has taught us so each of us can grow thereby.

We welcome our newest members JTR. Enjoy their blog by clicking the button IFB-KJV.

GOODNEWS BIBLE STUDY - PART TWO

1 John 1:1,2

Thank you for the introduction comments. We still have some comments that express overview. Now we move to the text itself. Please concentrate on the first four verses one at a time.

Try to extract everything you can from the first two verses. I have chosen two methods to illustrate what we want to do. You, of course, are free to study using any method.

Expository:
We look for a theme in the first four verses. Let's say after reading the verses over and over that we come up with a Word that is concise and comprehensive to describe John's main idea.

Chapter 1 - verses 1-4:
The word is REALITY. We see the REALITY of Jesus Christ.

A. John starts with Christ as "That" Person who was before anything - He is Creator :
Christ is Creator God; Gen. 1:1, Jn. 1:1

B. John is an eye witness to God incarnate (in human flesh). John was there when Jesus spoke to Philip in the passover chamber. "... he that hath seen me hath seen the Father"
(Jn. 14:9 b). b is second part of verse.

1) John heard God in His Son. Every word and act came from the Father. Jesus was the perfect Representative of God the Father anointed by God the Holy Spirit. "The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do... (Jn. 5:19).

2) John saw God in the flesh and he saw God spiritually by faith.

3) John handled God by touching him.

These are some of the spokes of our wheel. Remember we are drawing out thoughts (spokes) of our passage the (wheel). We are letting the Word of God speak for itself. Scripture calls out to Scripture.

A WITNESS tells what he/she was seen, heard, and touched. John was faithful to do this.

WORD STUDY:
It is extremely important to study the VERBS in this letter. Try to look them up in the Greek.
More on that later.

WORD is our first word to study. We get it from "Word of life" in verse one.

Greek: Λογος - ζοε are the two principle words.
Logos - From Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. " the expression of thought--not the mere name of an object. This is part of our first word in verse one, "THAT."

Word is a name of the Creator God; but it is MORE... MUCH MORE. It is the collective THOUGHT of God manifest in the Christ incarnate.

" Logos," the Word is the WHOLE DEITY - not just a part of the nature of God.

LIFE: Our second word for study is in the title - Word of Life. Life is ζοε in Greek.
Zoe is pronounced( zoon). We get our English word zoo and zoology from this word meaning life. All life is meant, animals and men.

In our verse we are looking at "That" which was before anything that was made. We are seeing the LIFE. "Life as God has it, "that" which the Father has in Himself, and which He gave to the Incarnate Son to have in Himself (Jn. 5:26), and which the Son manifested in the world (1 Jn. 1:2)." Vine's .

ANNOUNCE: Our last word for study comes from "shew unto you" in verse two. It is one of those EXTREMELY important GREEK VERBS. Announce comes from two words, ana, up, and angello, to report. John has a GREAT announcement.

He has Someone to DECLARE. He is excited to "report up" a Heavenly Message. Christ Jesus is REAL. He is our ultimate REALITY!

GOODNEWS BIBLE STUDY - DAY TWO

WELL GLORY!

Our study got off to a roaring start yesterday. We picked up three more contributors. The web names are a bit unusual but so are we. Serious Bible students are anything but normal.

Did you click on the comments to see the posts? Some have asked to be held, and some are being moderated or edited. Your comments will not be changed. They do pass through spell check, etc. Some are being held for later because they are to be used with later verses.

We will take our time with the study. Please read the blog for yesterday. It will give you an overall view of our approach to this first passage of Scripture. I will do an expository study. You can use any method of Bible study. I have given you three words for a WORD STUDY.

Some may not be familiar with word studies. Some of our contributors are familiar with Greek New Testament studies. We are interested in learning from each other. All comments are welcome. Pray and let our Teacher teach, and then share what you learn with us.

Please see the comments. They are for our benefit. Looking for comments on what you get from verses one and two. Take your time, we are in no hurry. You can leave a comment for T-Bone, email, or facebook you know who.

You will notice to your right a blog button. We are using that instead of a Blog Roll. Check them out. (CLICK HERE)

GOODNEWS: 1 John 1:1-4

1 John 1:1-4

Father, thank you for those who come to this site, and may you get honor and glory from our study of 1 John together. Amen

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;"

Do you find the Holy Spirit's use of the word "That" to open this letter a bit unusual? I do, until I read the rest of the phrase. Then I begin to get comparisons to other Scripture. "In the beginning God"- "In the beginning was the Word" - then I begin to understand.

Again, the word "That" - why not the word who, or just say the Creator was from the beginning? From Genesis and the Gospel of John we know that this verse is about God; but the use of "That" opens the door to much more than a name or title.

I am sure that each of you have commentaries on this Book. They are great - but they are secondary. We are more interested in what the Author is saying to you as we meditate.

Some of you have contributed to this study. I am so happy about that. Your comments and contributions will be posted.

Our assignment was to meditate on the first four verses, and then to come back to a close read of verse one. We are looking for the PURPOSE of John's letter. Have you found that?

WORD STUDY: Here are the three words: WORD - LIFE - ANNOUNCE. If you are not familiar with word studies, please let me know. There are several way to do it and I will help you.

Keep those comments and contributions coming by posting, email, or facebook - all are encouraging. Your moderator is all smiles.

It's Morning in GOODNEWS Bible Study

The first day of school is always exciting and this is no exception. Several old classmates have joined and others are soon to follow. The Bible Study is open for comments. The moderator - T-Bone - will post comments.

WELCOME: to 1 John; our Book to study, we are all students, and we will all profit from the study of God and His Word. This prayerful study will bring us into close fellowship with God and other believers.

INTRODUCTION: Let us pray. "Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy Law." This study may take different forms, as our Lord leads; but to begin today, let us try to work from an expository model.

For any that may not be familiar with the method of expository study, let me give a partial definition. The study is based on a passage of Scripture, which seeks to draw a concise and comprehensive theme and points, and applies to the lives of the people.

A.P. Gibbs has likened expository to a wheel. The main theme of the passage is the hub. The contributing thoughts in the passage are the spokes. The Word of God speaks for itself when presented in this way.

T-Bone says, "Class, are we ready to begin?"

Class says, "Amen!"

1 John it is

Bible study starts Monday. The book is 1 John. Short introduction and we take verses 1-4 one by one. Christians love the Bible. 1 John is for Christians.

We will use word studies, Greek, etc., so let the Lord lead you and take your time on the first four verse. See you right back here on Monday.