5 minutes a day
5 days a week
1 New Testament in a year

There are 261 weekdays in a year, and there are 260 chapters in the New Testament. By reading one chapter, Monday through Friday, you will read the whole New Testament by the end of the year. The Daily Cup series is to help with that goal.

Happy Studying!

"The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup." -- Psalm 16:5

Click here for a pdf of the study schedule - CLICK HERE

5 minutes a day
5 days a week
1 New Testament in a year

There are 261 weekdays in a year, and there are 260 chapters in the New Testament. By reading one chapter, Monday through Friday, you will read the whole New Testament by the end of the year. The Daily Cup series is to help with that goal.

Happy Studying!

"The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup." -- Psalm 16:5

Click here for a pdf of the study schedule - CLICK HERE

I see a lot of questions on baptism and a lot of different opinions.  In Romans 10:9, it says that if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be SAVED.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  Verse 13 states, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  I have found over 300 verses promising salvation for those who simply believe in the name of the Lord.  Why are you so focused on baptism for salvation?  Yes, it is very important, but I do not see anything saying if I'm not baptized, I'm not saved.  I do see, though, that if I don't believe, I do not get eternal life.

Sincerely,
Full Of Belief

Dear Full Of Belief,

Everyone agrees that we must believe in order to be saved because there are many verses that point out the importance of faith (‘belief’ and ‘faith’ are the same word in the Greek language).  However, just because one thing is required for salvation doesn’t mean other things aren’t also required.  You mentioned Rom 10:9 (which states that confession is a requirement of salvation).  Rom 8:24 says that we are saved by hope.  Rom 10:1-2 says that knowledge is a requirement for salvation (knowledge of God’s Word – Rom 10:17, Rom. 1:16).  2 Thess 2:10 says that love of truth is a requirement for salvation.  All of these things are requirements for salvation.  God tells us that the sum of His Word provides us with the truth (Ps 119:160) and that we can’t add or subtract a single verse (Rev 22:18-19).

There are verses that teach that belief saves you (Acts 16:30-31), but there are also verses that teach that baptism saves you (1 Pet 3:21 is the clearest).  If we cut out baptism, which is mentioned in every single case of christian conversion, we can no longer say that we are taking the total of God’s Word.  We are called friends of Christ when we do what He commands us (Jhn 15:14).  He commands us to be baptized to wash away our sins (Acts 22:16)… if we want a new life free of sin, we must be buried with Him in baptism as He commands us (Rom 6:3-4).  You mentioned Rom 10:9 as a very simple verse – confess with your mouth and believe with your heart, and you will be saved.  Mk. 16:16 is equally simple – “He who believes and is baptized will be saved”.

A political group recently distributed a questionnaire for candidate endorsements, and it suggested politicians should not worry about global climate change because it is up to God to regulate carbon in the atmosphere.

I am wondering what position you and/or your church take on this notion that carbon regulation is up to God, and not governments, and therefore, global climate change should not be addressed or taught in schools.

Do you think people are responsible to care for our habitat?  Or will God take care of the environment?

Sincerely,
Mr. Green

Dear Mr. Green,

Politics and religion often overlap, but it is important to remember that they are not synonymous.  The Bible says nothing about whether or not global climate change (the latest buzz phrase for global warming) is a scientifically viable issue or not… we leave that up to the scientists to debate.

The Bible says God has delegated a great deal of authority over this earth to mankind, and that means we have a real responsibility to not mistreat this planet (Gen 1:28) – but that doesn’t mean we have total responsibility over what happens to this world.  God also says that this world is held together by His might (Col 1:16-17).  Mankind cannot destroy this earth prematurely… God decides the final long-term fate and timing of this planet’s demise (2 Pet 3:10-11).

People should be responsible in how we behave, but the notion that we are destroying the earth is rubbish… God is the only one who can destroy the universe.

I know that we are made in God's image and that we are made a little lower than the angels.  But how can someone say we are little gods?

Sincerely,
Not A God

Dear Not A God,

We don’t know exactly where you heard that phrase “little gods”, but it is a common phrase used among ‘Word of Faith’ movement preachers.  Though the Bible does say that we are children of God (1 Jn 3:2) and made in God’s image (Gen 1:26)… the ‘Word of Faith’ movement goes so far as to make us completely equal to God.  That is a lie.  There is only one God (Mk 12:29).  All people have a beginning… but not God (Ps 90:2).

In Jhn 10:34, Jesus tells us that we are offspring of God when He quotes Ps 82:6… and this is a verse that ‘Word of Faith’ preachers like to reference, but that is only one verse taken out of context.  Many other verses clearly state that we are children of God – but certainly not equal to Him.