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

How do we know that the kingdom has been fulfilled?  I have found many verses talking about the kingdom being set up, but where does it say it has been fulfilled?

Sincerely,
Royal Subject?

Dear Royal Subject,

There are several verses that tell us that the kingdom is already here.  The first verses to look at are Matt 16:28, Mk 9:1, and Lk 9:27.  In those verses Jesus makes it clear that the kingdom would come within the lifetime of those He was preaching to.  Considering it has been 2,000 years since Jesus preached… the kingdom is here.

Another verse to look at is Col 1:13 where Paul says that christians are already in the kingdom.  Since Paul said that we are already in the kingdom, the kingdom must already be here and complete.

The reason for this is because the kingdom is the church.  Jesus said that His kingdom wouldn’t be a physical kingdom (Jhn 18:36), but it would be a kingdom that reigned within the hearts of people (Lk 17:20-21).  As we already mentioned, this kingdom is made up of christians.  What group of people was created within one generation of Jesus’ preaching and contains christians?  That would be the church!  The church is the spiritual kingdom for which Jesus gave His blood.  We become citizens of this kingdom when we are born again through baptism (Acts 8:12, Jhn 3:5).

At a little over four minutes, this first video is by far one of our longest for the Daily Cup.  Happy studying!

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

God is very clear about how He wants us to live our lives, so I don’t understand how some people are constantly sinning and think they will go to heaven just because they are good people.  It is hard when I try to show people different verses in the Bible, and they just blow it off and say God wouldn’t send them to hell because of this or that.  What are some good verses to show my friends and family that God is serious?

Sincerely,
Frustrated

Dear Frustrated,

Two very basic verses that emphasize the importance of living faithful lives are Jhn 14:6 and Jhn 15:14.  In Jhn 14:6, Jesus says that He is “the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him”.  That verse removes all other religions.  Buddhism, Islam, Agnosticism, Judaism, Atheism, etc. – none of those religions will get you to heaven – only Jesus will.  Since the only way to heaven is through Jesus, Jhn 15:14 goes one step farther and makes it clear that we can only be Jesus’ friends if we do what He commands us.

Not everyone can accept this.  It is only when people love the truth (2 Thess 2:10) that they accept the details of the Bible.  It is an unfortunate reality that most people are simply not interested in the Bible’s truths because it requires too much of them.  God wants us to live faithful and committed lives, lives that require us to deny ourselves (Matt 16:24).  Only when we study His Word and apply it can we call ourselves faithful (Rom 10:17).

We have a pastor for the last three years that will not communicate with me.  In three years, he has not had a conversation that has lasted six minutes.  Outside of our normal deacon meetings, he simply ignores speaking to me unless I speak to him.  I have had several members over the course of a year and half ask me why our pastor is frowning, not friendly, and downright rude.  Beyond this, his hospital visitation is superb, and his sermons and preparation are very good.  But he appears to be fed up with people in general.  He has been a pastor for twenty-seven years and is now sixty-one-years-old.  He gives behind the scenes and conducts himself professionally.  What can I do to get this pastor acting like he wants to be here or at least get him to speak to his senior deacon?  He has done nothing biblically incorrect.  I am not wanting him to leave, just to improve our relationship and others’.  Thank you for your consideration in responding to this question.

Sincerely,
On The Outs

Dear On The Outs,

Have you considered that the problem is rooted in the fact that having only one pastor is outside of the Bible pattern?  Pastors (also known as elders and bishops - Tit 1:5-7, Php 1:1) are the overseers of the church and should never be left to serve by themselves.  The Bible never gives examples of lone pastors; there is always a plurality (Acts 14:23).  1 Tim 3:1-7 and Tit 1:5-9 give the qualities a man must have in order to serve as a pastor.  We recommend you read "Elders" to see more scriptures on the topic.

We often have people write into the site with problems similar to yours.  We have found that the common thread is that when a man serves as a pastor and has that kind of authority without the checks and balances of other pastors – inevitably, there are problems.  Sometimes he becomes power hungry, sometimes he becomes lazy, sometimes he simply becomes indifferent... no matter what, the root cause is the same.  We would recommend your church adopt the Bible pattern of multiple pastors to lead the flock.  The closer we adhere to the Bible’s model for the church, the fewer problems we have.