Along the Way w/ Bro. Ryan

" In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king.  Now I had not been sad in his presence.  And the king said to me, 'Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick?  This is nothing but sadness of the heart.'  Then I was very much afraid.  I said to the king, 'Let the king live forever!  Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?'  Then the king said to me, 'What are you requesting?'  So I prayed to the God of heaven ." - Nehemiah 2:1-4 If you're familiar with the Old Testament books of Ezra, Nehemiah and several of the prophets, you will know that these record the time after God's prophesied judgment on the Israelites had been fulfilled through the factions of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia.  Ezra, just before Nehemiah, records the first wave of Israelite ca

"Who has believed what he has heard from us?  And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?  For He grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He had no for or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.  He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not...... He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed...... because He poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors." -Isaiah 53:2, 5, 12 It has become popular teaching in today's "church" culture to break from the Old Testament and deem it as irrelevant, old and out-of-step with the Gospel of the New Testament.  This

"The book of the  genealogy of Jesus Christ,  the Son of David,  the Son of Abraham..." - Matthew 1:1-16 Its Christmastime yet again.  This Christmas season, as with others before it, will no doubt be teeming with family, food, gifts, movies, hot cocoa, letters to Santa, decor (endless decor!), festive music and the list goes on.  This is truly a joyous time of year, for many anyway. I'm not sure what your family's Christmas traditions are, but if you are a Christian, hopefully the reading of the Christmas story or something from Scripture is a part of your celebration - after all, as Christians, Jesus is the entire reason for celebration!  One thing that is often overlooked and skipped altogether in the reading of the Christmas story, both in homes and in Christmas services in churches, is the genealogy presented before everything takes place with King Herod, and the wise men, and the shepherds, and the manger scene.  When it comes to lists of names, or lists of