Author Archives: ErvVanags

For 6 to 8 months, I’ve been dealing with an identity change. God has been nudging me and telling me it’s been 3 ½ years since my wife Darlene went to glory. But I’m still acting as if I’m still married. I’ve been resisting this change and upset with God about it. I’ve been stuckContinue reading “Serve in the Newness of the Spirit”

As I get ready for the last Lifeway “How to Study the Bible” small group for this summer, our homework is to take a verse you are familiar with or presently studying and use the skills we have learned in the past weeks to “O-I-A”: Observe, Interpret, and Apply. We’ve been looking at both HebrewContinue reading “Silence Part 3: Soul”

As I get ready for our Lifeway Bible Study Skills small group, I continue to look at my second prayer verse: Psalm 30:12 NASBSThat my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever. My last blog entry talks about the Hebrew wordContinue reading “Silence Part 2: Thanksgiving”

In preparing for our Lifeway  “Consider the Word” small group with the goal of learning techniques to study the Bible, I checked my “Prayer List” verse with tonight’s lesson. This verse is one that I put at the head of the list to read before praying about the rest of the list. It’s been thereContinue reading “Silence”

I came across a “verse of the day”. It was 2 Tim 4:18 2 Timothy 4:18 NASBS The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. For you Lifeway Biblical Skills Mens Group members, here’s a goodContinue reading “Rescue”

Fall 2024 Group Biblical Skills Group: Need some help with the Biographical assignment on Elijah? Let’s start by using some of the skills we’ve already covered. First, let’s use Observation. I’ll give you 3 to start with: Observation What we are really after is “What is God saying to me?” Here is an application for me. WhatContinue reading “Session 5 Assignment”

Fall 2024 Group Biblical Skills Group: Here are some OIA from Session 4’s Assignment. Add some of your own Observations, Interpretations, and Applications. This assignment takes on passages of scripture that are difficult to explain: loving and hating one’s life. Hint: These passages reveal the meaning of discipleship John 12:25 NASBS He who loves his lifeContinue reading “Session 4 Assignment”

As I am in day 41 of Jeff Anderson’s 60-day Power Read of the Bible, a plan on the YouVersion mobile app, I came across a phrase in Ezekiel that stuck out to me: Ezekiel 20:10-12 NASBSSo I took them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. [11] I gaveContinue reading “My Sundays”

In our Dominican missions preparation meeting the other day, we looked at Proverbs 13:4 Proverbs 13:4 NASBSThe soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, But the soul of the diligent is made fat. Caryn pointed out that the “soul” here refers to life and living and not necessarily a reference to eternal life. SomeContinue reading “Are you diligent?”