Biblical Concepts for Todays Concerns

By William Brannan

My name is William Brannan. I was born in November of 1955 to a poor couple. My father was alcoholic and my parents divorced while I was only three or four. I did not remember my dad at that time and though I wanted a dad, I was out-going and friendly until we started moving so often I fell behind in school. I began to feel insecure and unlovable. Though I was highly intelligent and did very well on all aptitude scores, I believed myself to be inferior and refused to apply myself. I had a hole in my sole and eventually sought to fill it by many unsavory means. It would be many years before that hole would be filled by the living true creator God. Jesus saved me from death and eternal damnation. After my salvation I was given a desire to preach the Gospel but all doors to that ministry would prove to be closed, locked, and nailed shut. In February or 2011 I accidently founded For His Praise, www.forhispraise.com, a web-log to the honor and praise of Him who saves. While writing for this blog, a flame of passion for writing was kindled in my soul. As the positive comments poured in, I was encouraged to take my writing a step further. Hence this first book of the series Biblical Concepts for Todays Concerns was conceived. In this series from the quill of a layman you will learn much more of this writer; who I was, who I am, and who I am becoming. You may also want to visit www.quillofalayman.com for more to come.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 18, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465390646

William Brannan

My name is William Brannan. I was born in November of 1955 to a poor couple. My father was alcoholic and my parents divorced while I was only three or four. I did not remember my dad at that time and though I wanted a dad, I was out-going and friendly until we started moving so often I fell behind in school. I began to feel insecure and unlovable. Though I was highly intelligent and did very well on all aptitude scores, I believed myself to be inferior and refused to apply myself. I had a hole in my sole and eventually sought to fill it by many unsavory means. It would be many years before that hole would be filled by the living true creator God. Jesus saved me from death and eternal damnation. After my salvation I was given a desire to preach the Gospel but all doors to that ministry would prove to be closed, locked, and nailed shut. In February or 2011 I “accidently” founded “For His Praise”, www.forhispraise.com, a web-log to the honor and praise of Him who saves. While writing for this blog, a flame of passion for writing was kindled in my soul. As the positive comments poured in, I was encouraged to take my writing a step further. Hence this first book of the series “Biblical Concepts for Today’s Concerns” was conceived. In this series “from the quill of a layman” you will learn much more of this writer; who I was, who I am, and who I am becoming. You may also want to visit www.quillofalayman.com for more to come.

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Copyright © 2011 by William Brannan.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2011919701

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4653-9063-9

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4653-9062-2

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4653-9064-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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INTRODUCTION:

Millions do not know what the Bible says about their everyday life concerns or how to apply the Holy Scriptures to their lives today. This book is by no means intended to replace your daily Bible study; but to help you to understand the scriptures and how they are relevant today. Therefore, this book is not meant to be exhaustive, but will take many of today’s issues and show what the Bible states on these issues. This book will deal with issues such as the importance of daily Bible study and prayer, your relationship with God, personal relationships, marriage, roles of each family member, sex, employment, etc.

It is my hope and prayer that if you do not now have a personal relationship with God you will see your need and develop one by accepting his free gift of salvation, and that if you already are His child you will develop a closer relationship with Him and grow in grace.

This will be a trilogy of books. I hope you look forward to the next two.

DEDICATION:

This series of books is dedicated to all those who believe the Bible is outdated and irrelevant. I pray God’s word transform your heart and that you see the Bible is just as relevant today as it was two-thousand years ago.

This series is also dedicated to the Christian who rarely digs into the scriptures or finds need to do so. I pray God breaks-up the furrows of your heart that you might repent and seek Him while He may be found.

EPIGRAPH

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. II Timothy 3:17…18

Contents

Chapter One: Faith

What Is Faith?

Where Or To Whom Do We Have Faith In?

How Do We Increase Our Faith?

Application:

Chapter Two: Religion

What Is Religion?

Christianity Vs. Other Religions

The Gospel:

Application:

Chapter Three: Relationships

God

Family, Friends, Acquaintances, And Neighbors

Government, Employer, And Church

Application

Chapter Four: Sex

Pre-Marital

Marital Sex

Extra-Marital

Application

Chapter Five: Marriage

The First Institution:

The Life-Time Commitment:

The Holy Covenant:

Application:

Chapter Six: Divorce

The Cause Of Divorce:

The Effects Divorce Has On The Family:

Is It Lawful To Remarry After Divorce?

Application:

Chapter Seven: Family

The Husband’s Role:

The Wife’s Role:

The Child’s Role:

Application:

Chapter Eight: Employment

Who Should Work?

Attitude At Work:

Wages:

Application:

Chapter Nine: Finance

Paying Debt:

Saving For The Future:

Giving:

Application:

Chapter Ten: Charity

What Is True Charity?

When To Give Charity:

The Benefits Of Giving Charity:

Application:

Chapter Eleven: Hospitality

What Is Hospitality?

Why Should We Be Hospitable?

To Whom Do We Show Hospitality?

Application:

Chapter Twelve: Death

What Is Death?

Death Without Christ:

Death With Christ:

Application:

Conclusion:

What We Learned:

What Will You Do With This Information?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Above all, I would thank God for saving me and giving me a strong passion to write. He is my all. He guides me with His Spirit and His Word. Praise Him forever more.

I would take this time to thank my daughters Erin, Heather, and Jenna for their wonderful support and their assistance in making this dream possible. Thanks also go to many friends for their encouragement throughout the writing of this first book.

A special thank you goes to Erma brown that taught me to write through any block to keep the flow going and taught me to keep disciplined. Erma encouraged me to keep writing high priority.

Very special thanks must also go to Xlibra Publishing for making it so easy to publish my first book.

CHAPTER ONE: FAITH

Every person alive has some kind of faith. Those who travel by plane have faith that the pilot, though they have never met him, knows how to fly the plane safely, and will get them to their destination. Though we do not know how electricity works, we have faith that when we flip a switch the lights will turn on. Upon waking in the morning we have faith there will be a solid place to stand as we wheel out of bed. The list could go on almost endlessly. Without thinking about it we do many things, knowing they can be done.

WHAT IS FAITH?

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Faith is a word that is often misused. People will say they have faith something will occur, but it is more a hope-so idea than a known to be so. Faith is the essence of knowing with all certainty of a given fact. We cannot see air, we know it exist because we can see its action as it moves objects around. We cannot see God, but we can see His creation. The heavens declare His Glory.

The Greek word pistis is the word translated faith. The word pistis, according to Strong’s Concordance is; persuasion, i.e. credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly, constancy in such profession; by extension, the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself:—assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.

Therefore there are two types of faith. One is believing faith. Believing faith is that common faith most people have. They are willing to except there is a God, and may even claim to be a Christian for a plethora of reasons, yet they have not placed their trust in Jesus and Jesus alone for salvation.

Second there is saving faith. Saving faith