From the Founder
Hello and welcome to Helpmewithbiblestudy.org.
For many years I did not read the Bible because of my difficulty reading and understanding it. It
was so much easier to sit at church and listen to a good pastor give an expository sermon. Had I thought
about it, I would have realized that I opened the Bible only 50 times a year and that was to have the
pastor read it to me. It was a bit foolish to think that sitting in church would meaningfully change my
heart and conform me to Him in a lasting manner. I studied with Bible study groups and booklets, but I
never learned how to read the Bible by myself. As the result, I've made many regrettable mistakes in my
life that could have been easily avoided had I been abiding in the Lord.
Since I have learned how to read the Bible, my walk with the Lord is much better and consistent. I
still make mistakes, but they are fewer and less severe. Perhaps the greatest impact is that I've been
more graceful and forgiving as I am humbled with the experience of God's grace.
It is my prayer that this site encourage and challenge you in your walk with the Lord. I'm not a Bible
scholar, but God has brought a variety of godly people to this site who share in this desire. This site
certainly does not take the place of the many great books that teach you how to read the Bible, but it
does provide material that you could use or adapt for your personal ministry to your family, friends,
church, and acquaintances.
May the Lord give you eyes to see and ears to hear!
-Douglas Mar
Released on the web in the year 2000, Helpmewithbiblestudy.org continues to serve
hundreds of thousands each year worldwide.
Financial Support
Donations to this federally registered public charity go towards development of Bible study articles and
images, legal licenses and permits, and technical maintenance and web hosting; the cost of administration
and marketing is zero. This ministry is strictly volunteer.
Tax deductible donations may be made to:
Helpmewithbiblestudy.org, 12306 SE 42nd St., Bellevue,
WA 98006-1395
This is a registered charity in the state of Washington (ID #602 019 305), and a federally
registered Public Charity 509(a)(2) with IRS tax exemption 501(c)(3). Tax deductible receipts are mailed out
promptly from Helpmewithbiblestudy.org.
Contact Us
Please contact us at hello@helpmewithbiblestudy.org to let us know how the site
is helpful or not, any errors, or broken links. Thanks!
A Question to consider: what will you do with your life?
Natural consequence is the universal teacher of life. And if we have the wisdom to learn,
we become a better person, or so we think so. Until circumstances bring us so low that we
discover that our good self-image is really a façade for selfishness or pride or some other
aspect of human nature.
We begin to have some inkling that the natural consequences for our unfettered pursuit
of natural desires isn’t good or that we may be unworthy of some title of goodness. So when
we don’t receive a deserved punishment or penalty, we begin to wonder. We begin to sense,
though not fully comprehend, what true forgiveness is.
We learn or hear from others whose faith in gods and philosophies help us understand
what charity is; however, the meaning of true forgiveness escapes us. We prefer a finite
understanding. The very idea of inner peace is inviting whether from the position of giver
who absolves by the pleasure of magnanimity or from the position of receiver who resolves
by refusing all responsibility. So we think we can control our peace of mind. We can be
what we make ourselves to be. We can control our destiny. We can achieve salvation.
But paradoxes emerge. In our wisdom, we are confronted by the realization that despite
our best efforts, we cannot always be that good or prefer to keep some characteristics
deeply hidden even from ourselves. And deep down, we begin to question, as much as we pride
ourselves with our reason and logic, whether we should discern the truth by how we feel.
And all the while we discover that there is one faith that is distinctly different. A
faith that recognizes the futility of human effort, and a God whose revelation is based on
fact. Its uniqueness from all other religions is that the cost of redemption is born by
another. The simplicity of faith in the One who was sacrificed, which makes salvation a
free and universal gift that cannot be achieved, is inconceivable by any
standard.
We prefer to accept the Golden Rule where we can understand the cost and have some
vested interest in its outcome. Yet our logic unconsciously prevails. When we attempt to
understand this grace, we are astonished by just a glimpse of love required for this
provision especially when we know just how unlovable we are. And like true forgiveness, we
begin to see, though not fully comprehend, what true love is. It is not as skin deep or as
temporal as our culture has taught us. If anything we are left with a profound sense of
gratitude, and, as we learn what God means by love, it gradually dawns on us that we were
victims of a grand illusion.
So when we return to the idea of natural consequences, at some point we realize that
this is in the eternal sense, while observing with a certain clarity the tempting illusion
that engulfs others. Then we suddenly stop for in the constellation of possibilities, we
realize that it was one life who introduced us to God, one life who helped us read the
Bible, one life who encouraged us in our faith walk, One life who made an eternal difference
at one moment in our lives.
So we are left with this question: what am I doing with my one life?
Copyright ©2000-7 Helpmewithbiblestudy.org. All rights to this material are reserved. We encourage you
to print the material for personal and non-profit use or link to this site. You may not distribute articles
to other web locations for retrieval or mirror at any other site.