Chapter 17 of Travels to John (Day 12 of NaNoWriMo) by Stacy Duplease of Stories by Stacy, LLC

Chapter 17


John 2:13-16,
“13 It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. 15 Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. 16 Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, ‘Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace,’” (NLT)!

DANIEL ALWAYS THOUGHT THIS PASSAGE of Scripture was a strong one. However, when he witnessed it, he learned it was far more powerful than He ever could have possible realized. He was transformed when he experienced this passage firsthand. Granted, this was a familiar scenario given the fact he’s said the same about every passage he’s experienced in the times of John.

The passage of John 2:13-16 took place in the temple courts in the place called the Court of the Gentiles, in particular. The Court of the Gentiles was in the walls of the temple, but was on the outside of the holy of holies (as Christians would call it, the sanctuary). It was where there was to be prayer from all the nations. Gentiles of any nationality or gender were not allowed into the Holy of Holies.

Daniel knew there were two types of people at this time: the Jews and the Gentiles. The Gentiles were anyone not of the Jewish descent. Christians were Gentiles. Romans were Gentiles. Deists were Gentiles.

John 2:13-16 reminded Daniel to take worship more seriously than what he did. God was someone to take seriously. God shouldn’t be forgotten about, ignored, denied, pushed to the side, taken for granted, or anything else negative. Also, Daniel acknowledged he should try not to sin, focus on God, read the Word for as long as he could every single day (preferably hours not minutes), pray a lot (preferably without ceasing and all day long), and journal his journey with God. God was serious stuff and deserved his 100% attention and affection. Failure to do so resulted in a less than adequate life in Christ.

Daniel still found it weird how he would first hear John read aloud what he wrote for his book and then how Daniel would see the scene lived out in real-time. It was something he never thought was possible, yet he hoped it would be in theory. It was real and he was one who actually accomplished the feat personally. Consequently, on a personal and professional level, it was a marvel and was a dream come true.

He thought about how the passage of John 2:13-16 was told in all four gospels: Matthew 21:12-21:13; Mark 11:15-11:17; and Luke 19:45-19:46. Therefore, it was an important chapter and Daniel knew he needed to give it extra attention. He tried to take in every detail and make sure he didn’t miss anything. He wanted to remember it for himself and so he could log it later for the project. There had to be a reason why he was there a second time and he planned on taking advantage of the time.

John 2:13-16 in a different Bible version reads:

“13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.


14 And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.


15 And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;


16 and to those who were selling the doves He said, ‘Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business,’” (NASB).

ERIN KNEW THE REASON WHY there were oxen (cattle), sheep, and doves in the Court of the Gentiles. All three types of animals were used for sacrifices and would be pierced, cut, and burned by the Jews for worship and in atonement for their sins. Hence, the animals in the Court of the Gentiles made it easier for the people to get the animals for sacrifice.

However, the term ‘easier’ caused her to have a moment’s pause. Was worship supposed to be easy? Was it acceptable to take a shortcut for the worship, obeying, and atonement with God? Nothing in life was made better through taking the easy way. Most of life requires sacrifice. So, why would we not sacrifice more for God?

But, isn’t that precisely what we do?

We shortchange God by going to church when we feel like it. We go to the service at the time we prefer because it’s easier. We allow our minister’s or pastor’s to get into the Bible for us because we don’t want to make the time. We are just as guilty today for this practice of taking the easy approach. We don’t do the hard stuff for God because it’s well—hard.

We don’t ask God what He wants for worship. We tell Him what He wants. We tell Him what feels good to us. We have to have it our way—not His way.

His way isn’t very convenient.

Plus, who said worship was supposed to really be about Him? What about us and what we feel comfortable with? We wonder, whether we vocalize or not.

So, we limit ourselves and our worship of Him. Nice. We prove time and time again we just don’t get it and the type of thinking Erin just thought about only proved how wrong we have it in our faith today.

Then, there were the moneychangers. They exchanged Roman money for the Jewish money needed to pay their temple dues (see Matthew 17:24). Again, it was a matter of convenience. Why would they want to actually take the time to get their money exchanged elsewhere and take a few extra minutes? It took too long and was too much of a hassle. Or, that’s what they said when they supported these businesses (animals or money).

And, then they and we wonder why Jesus was furious…

Hmm. Let’s think on this for a few minutes.

Erin was on a tirade in her mind, writing her log in her mind.

Jesus saw what faith was to the people at the temple and He knew how much disrespect and lack of love or obedience that showed His Father. Hence, there was righteous anger. (But, He didn’t sin while angry.)

Erin knew that she made some of the same mistakes, and some different mistakes, herself. Actually, they were sins—not mistakes. She wanted to give God the full credit He was due and she wanted to make sure to leave place in her live for proper daily worship of the Most High God.

DANIEL WAS STUNNED WHEN HE WATCHED Jesus reach over to where the animals were and He grabbed the cords or ropes used to tie up the animals and he used them to make the whips or the scourge of cords from John 2:15. Then, Jesus used them to drive out of the temple the animal owners and then he poured out the money and overturned the tables of the moneychangers.

He told those selling doves to take them away and to, “Stop making my Father’s house a place of business,” (NASB and John 2:16).

Daniel cringed when he heard Christ use tht phrase. Oh, boy. Did they have a clue that it wasn’t just a man speaking, but it was God Himself?

Daniel also didn’t know if they thought of the temple as God’s house.

But, the one thing He was pretty sure of was the people were horrified that He had the audacity to claim He was God’s Son. That was a heresy and people died for stuff like that. In other words, Daniel could see how easily, once this blew over, the people would turn their sins on Christ and make it His fault—not theirs. They wouldn’t get comprehend the situation at all or how misinformed they were in reality.

The other thing He doubted the people realized as he witnessed the scene himself was that Jesus was the temple and had full authority to clean it up and cast away the garbage that didn’t belong. He focused on the renewal of the temple, the elimination or purging of corruption, and started the process (Author’s Note: Also see Genesis 35:2; Psalm 69:9; Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11; Zechariah 14:21; Malachi 3:1; 1 Timothy 6:5; and 1 Timothy 6:10.).

Daniel couldn’t help but think about the concept of the temple. The temple was not a place of business. It was not about profit or capitalism. It was a place of worship.


By Stacy Duplease
of Stories by Stacy

Tentative Summaries of "First Travels to John" by Stacy Duplease of Stories by Stacy

Paragraph Synopsis:

Three Christians and three non-Christians form a coalition to build a time machine to take them back in time and prove or disprove God and the Bible. They are able to travel back to the times of the Book of John from the Bible.

Full Synopsis:
Six scientists team up to prove and disprove God and the Bible by trying to invent a way to travel back in time and witness events from the Bible on their own. They decided to team up because both groups were equally passionate about the project and both groups had as much to gain and as much to lose as the other. They were able to combine resources and expertise because of the joining.

They tried to think of every theory they could of time travel and tested most of them and failed--except in discovering/creating a shot/injection to hold their body together as they travel through a wormhole or anything else of the kind.

They use a Virtual Reality computer program to make a verse from the Bible come alive, literally, and the wording forms a picture they put into a projector and project it life-size into a black room and four people are able to enter into the scene. They're able to witness events from the Bible and see things for themselves.

Answers the question of: What if the Word was really made flesh?


By Stacy Duplease
of Stories by Stacy

Day 2 of NaNoWriMo: John and the Bible Time Machine: Chapters 1-2 by Stacy Duplease of Stories by Stacy, LLC

Chapter 1

FALLON BENTLEY COULDN'T BELIEVE THE DAY was finally here where they could test their inventions. Their inventions were completely theoretical even after five years of theorizing, research, testing parts of the inventions, and much speculation or guesswork. Today was the day they were going to put all the parts together and test the whole machine, as they called the invention as a whole sum of all the parts.They named the invention the BTM, the Bible Time Machine. The purpose of it was to travel back in time and prove or disprove God and the Bible were true.

They were a group of six: 3 males and three females of three of the A-Team and three of the G-Team. The A-Team were those who were anti-God and anti-Bible. The G-Team were those who were for God and the Bible and were Christ followers. The group of Christians consisted of the following: Daniel Giles, Erin Ballard, and Fallon Bentley. The A-Team consisted of the following: Adora Dallon, Billy Martinez, and Caleb Deverell.

They were the original people of the project. They each had two assistants now. One was a lab assistant and one was a research assistant. They also had donors who had given them 316 million dollars so far. (The Christians had a joke about that number, which will be explained later.) Therefore, they had enough for five years of wages and experiments. If they were successful today, they almost had the same figure again for the next round of experimentation on the BTM.

Two of the group would stay behind in case the other four never returned and their replacements were already chosen. However, as of this moment, they didn't know which two would stay behind. The three names of the G-Team would go into one hat and the three names of the A-Team would go into another hat. Then the opposite team's leader would pick one name from the hat and that individual would be the one who stayed behind.

They used a similar method to pick which book of the New Testament they would use to travel back to in time. They decided the New Testament was the best point to start with in order to determine if God and the Bible were true. Consequently, the twenty-seven books of the New Testament were put into a hat and Billy, the Non-Christian, picked since he was the one in charge of that A-Team and Fallon was in charge of the G-Team. Billy picked the 'John' slip; therefore, John was the book they would use for this round of experiments. They kept everything as fair as possible between their two teams so that everything remained as equal as possible.

Fallon realized they had no idea what to expect today in their experimentation. Four could die or be lost in time or between times for ever. Then again, four might have the experience of their lives or absolutely nothing at all may transpire. They really did not know because it was all theory and speculation and it made Fallon slightly nervous.

The six spent the last month getting their affairs in order just in case the worst case scenario was realized. They paid off their bills, if they had any, and they lived as minimally as they could so they could use as much money on their project as possible.

They also had Plan B where if the four didn't return right away, the two would wait a year before they shut down that experiment permanently. In the meanwhile, they would continue researching and experimenting with new ways to make their project work and to help it work better if it did indeed work. It was far more crucial to prove or disprove God and the Bible in a quantifiable manner. It was a goal they refused to lose sight of and they would continue. The scenario would be difficult, but the project was important.

Fallon was both excitedly nervous and was nervously excited at once for today's events to unfold and she couldn't wait to see what happened. Nonetheless, she tried her best to keep calm and focused in spite of the adventure of the upcoming day. She hoped she would be picked, but was scared of what it might mean. It was okay, though, she told herself. This was where faith came to play. She had to take a leap of faith and trust God and His plans for the situation.

The experiment consisted of three phases:

A. The first phase involved taking a verse from the Holy Bible and entering each word of the verse into a VR (Virtual Reality) computer program. The VR program converted the words on the page into an image or a scene.

B. The second phase was putting the image or scene into a projector, which was actually a hologram, and magnifying it to life-size in a pitch black room.

C. The third phase consisted of the four entering the projected image like the movie or television show, Stargate. The two left behind would use the main computer program called BTM and the computer would open a wormhole and take the four to the scene in the verse.

They conjectured that the wormhole would take them there directly and they would be able to observe the scene. they would be able to see things, hear, taste, smell, and feel. The only thing they would not be able to do was enter the scene directly. They would be invisible to the people there and wouldn't be able to accidentally or intentionally change anything and then would not be able to change or impact history. They would be invisible, after all, because their bodies would have gone through a change in matter as it went through the wormhole. It wasn't known if they would be able to converse with anyone of their group and this was rather disturbing to Fallon.

She finished putting on her flight suit with regular clothes underneath for the travel through the wormhole. After all, they assumed the one layer on top without anything hanging down, loose, or free, would make their travel safer. She glanced in the mirror and said a prayer before she left. "God, guide us. Bless or block whatever transpires today. We want to do it all for You, if it's Your will. We want to bring you the glory. Protect us and help us to draw nearer to You regardless of what happens or doesn't happen."



Chapter 2

THE FIRST NAME CHOSEN TO stay behind was Billy Martinez of the Anti-God Team. He appeared disappointed for a moment, but he quickly recovered. "I'll support whoever goes to the best of my ability and will wholeheartedly maintain the home-effort. I won't let any of you down."

"That's good because we're counting on you to do so." Adora Dallon, the leader of the A-Team reminded him with a tone that was in-your-face and was rude about the ordeal.

The second name would get pulled from the hat in a moment. Adora glanced at the God Team and wiggled her fingers in the air about the hat. "Blessed be to the ones going and the one who stays behind."

Erin Ballard couldn't help but cringe as Adora made a Wiccan or New-Age comment and couldn't help but cringe because she didn't know whether to hope to be left behind or hope to be chosen to go on the first excursion. She was okay either way. Later, she'd feel more passionately about going, but right now, it was rather nerve-wracking wondering about if the experiment would be successful or if the unthinkable might happen.

"Here goes nothing," Adora reached into the hat and pulled out a slip and read, "Fallon Bentley."

Fallon took in the information for a moment before she allowed emotion to come to her face. Erin gave her hand a squeeze and offered her opinion on the subject, "That makes me feel better, Fal. I trust you with my life and know if anything goes haywire, you would be able to get us out of it since Adora is going." She didn't say it to be rude to the others, but because the entire group knew it was true.

Billy and Fallon would stay behind and Adora, Caleb, Daniel, and Erin would take part in the first test phase of the BTM. Erin was sure her heart beat so desperately that it would pound through her chest and fall onto the ground in front of her. She was picked to go first. She couldn't help but say a quick prayer for God's guidance and protection. She was cognizant, after all, that they would get started with everything almost immediately. They didn't have time to spare.

They were to start the VR at precisely 9:00 a.m. and it was 8:30. Therefore, time was of the essence. They needed to prepare themselves and make a log entry. Every member of the original six founders of the BTM Group kept a log or a journal about their exploits. Erin was the overall logkeeper or journalkeeper of the project. She recorded both her own log and a collective log of the group. It was her responsibility to read everyone's logs and to compile a summary of them into the summary log. She had the passion of writing and the group tended to put each other into positions where they would be able to live out their strengths and where they would be the greatest asset to the group. Consequently, she guessed it was appropriate that she would go with the group of four for the first test-run of the BTM.

"I have John 1:1 pulled up on my screen and am ready to go when it's time." Billy gave the group information as to what he had completed. The six prepared for both roles--if they went or if they stayed, so it was not something they had to think twice about at this point. They just acted accordingly as they slid into their responsibilities.

"Now, let's do our log entries for the next ten minutes and then we'll start." Fallon instructed the group. She had the most education of anyone in the group and was the one most qualified to do the BTM. As a matter of fact, the entire project was her idea. She met Daniel and then Adora and the project came more to life. Hence, she was the project manager and was the one with the final say about everything.

TEN MINUTES LATER, IT WAS time to start the process of getting the three stages fired up and ready to be used. Billy was already off to a good start, however. He had John 1:1 on his screen already and it stated,

John 1:1
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," (NIV).

They found it ironic and appropriate how the very book of the Bible they chose from the hat about a month ago to use for round one of their testing of the Bible Time Machine described precisely their whole goal of their project. They wanted to make the Word or the Bible to literally come alive. They wanted to step into the Word and witness it for themselves; consequently, they would all shake their heads when they read it. Even today, Caleb couldn't help doing so after he completed his log entry. He also couldn't help but chuckle and think of the Star Trek and how they did log entries as well. Their project was like Star Trek, Stargate, and any other time traveling television show, book, or movie. Except theirs was centered around disproving or proving God and the Bible. He decided it was easier to laugh at this point and find things amusing than to think about what they were about to do.

"The VR and Hologram Projector are up and running," Billy called out and Fallon prepared the third stage and the computer program which ran the final segment of the overall BTM. When, and if, they got to the other side, they each had a tiny handheld computer (HC) to record their observations and to open the wormhole when they would return. Since it was opened at the other side, less was needed at this side to go back. They called the modern day time the MT and the BTM time the BT time.

"Billy, start Stage 1." Fallon called out as the four stood in a line. They had on their flight suits and had a backpack of MREs (Meals Ready Eat, military issue), their HCs, and a few other odds and ends and were ready to proceed.

Daniel watched Billy hit a few buttons on his computer. Then, Fallon said, "Billy, start Stage 2." The moment she said it, all of their assistants worked furiously between the actual machine and at their own computers. It was a flurry of activity and Daniel counted his lucky stars they were able to quiet the hologram. It was pretty loud now, he couldn't imagine what it would be like if it was the louder version.

What Daniel saw next was astonishing. They theorized that this was what would happen, but actually witnessing it working for the first time was nothing he expected.
 
By Stacy Duplease
of Stories by Stacy

Blog #4: Chapter 1 of Romans: Closing

Blog #4:


Chapter 1: Introductions--Cont. of:

CHAPTER INFORMATION:
BOOK TITLE: The Book of Romans: Truth From Fiction Series Book 1
DATE: 21 October 2009 Wednesday
TYPE OF STORY FOR THIS CHAPTER: Non-Fiction
IT IS A NEW OR ON-GOING STORYLINE?: On-going (#4)
GENRE: Non-Fiction
LAST TIME THIS STORYLINE WAS USED: 21 October 2009 in Blogs #3
(Blogs #1 and #2 were on 19 October 2009)

OPENING VERSE
John 15:1 from the NIV states,
"'I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.'"

PERSPECTIVE
Enough of my extended bunny trail. What God told me on Thursday, 15 October 2009 changed my life entirely and that's not to mention how it changed my writing life as well. However, most importantly, what God told me gave me perspective. I not understand because of what God told me on 15 October why my writings hadn't been published yet. They needed the vision (i.e. goal, mission, objective) God gave me that night. I'll share more of this story with you later. thanks for listening as I wrap up this Introductory Chapter. Thank you for listening/reading to Blogs #1-3. I can't wait to continue this journey with you later. Until then, God bless you.

CLOSING OF CHAPTERS IN THIS BOOK
The close of each blog or book chapter will consist of either:
1. Reflective Questions
2. A Bible Study
3. A Contemplative Ponderance (My sense of humor coming out again. Please bear with me.)

Also, a Bible verse will close the day! Oops. I've forgotten to add a Bible verse to open each day as well. So, I'm going to go and add one to the beginning of this blog today. (Ugh! I can't believe I did that.)

TODAY'S CLOSING: REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS
Today, we're closing with Reflective Questions to help you to:
1. Evaluate where you are today on your Christ-following walk,
2. Help you to remember where you've come from,
3. See/decide where you're headed,
4. Learn lessons from the daily blog reading.

HOW DO YOU WANT TO REMEMBER?
Please decide what platform you want to use to commensurate (complete or remember) the end of every blog. It needs to be how you answer questions, complete a Daily Review, and so on at the end of the reading every day. In other words, you need to keep a journal or you need to keep a workbook you create if you don't like to journal. They are really the same. However, semantics make all the difference as to whether you'll feel motivated ti keep one. Call it whichever you prefer: workbook or journal.

WHAT TYPE OF JOURNAL OR WORKBOOK DO YOU WANT TO KEEP?
There are two types of workbooks or journals: Paper or Digital.

THE PAPER TYPE
If you want to keep the paper type of journal or workbook, here are the types you may choose, but please note this is hardly an exhaustive list:
1. A blank or lined book or journal
2. A spiral notebook
3. A 3-ring binder with notebook paper
4. A Manila file folder and paper
5. Legal pads--small or large
6. Note cards and filing system
7. Anything else you can think of. Also, if you do come up with other other ideas, please add a comment at the bottom of this blog or email me at: stacyduplease@storiesbystacy.com

THE DIGITAL TYPE
If you want to keep s digital workbook or journal, here are a few types:
1. Word documents(s)
2. Email yourself daily
3. On your calendar/planner
4. An Internet journal
5. A blog (to share or keep private)
6. Anything else you can think of. Also, if you do come up with other other ideas, please add a comment at the bottom of this blog or email me at: stacyduplease@storiesbystacy.com

***Note: Just remember whichever format you choose to use, keep it forever and never throw it away. Here's why:
1. You'll want to re-read it later and evaluate where you've come on your journey.
2. You'll want to re-read it later in order to remember what God has done in your life.

Both reasons why are critical. If you want to grow as much as possible and draw as near top God as you are able, this will help you with that endeavor.

But for now, good luck. May the Lord guide you as you complete these reflective questions.

REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 1
Take out your workbook or journal and answer the following questions:
1. How deep is your faith? Is it shallow (meaning not very good), stagnate (meaning not moving; not warm), or is your faith deep today?Explain.
2. How do you want your faith to be and what does that look like? Describe it in at least 4 sentences. Preferably 8-12.
3. How close are you to God today? Explain.
4. How well do you believe God today? Explain.
5. How well do you know God today? Explain.
6. Do you seek God first in all you do today? Explain.
7. Are you living for heaven today or for man or the world? Explain.
8. Have you been in the Word today? Describe.
9. How's your prayer life today? What have you prayed today? What should you have prayed today, but haven't? Why?
10. How has God spoken to you over the last couple of months and about what? Have you responded?
11. How has God spoken to you over the last week and about what? Have you responded?
12. How has God spoken to you today and about what? Have you responded?
13. What have you said to God today?
14. What have you learned from today and not just from this blog or book?

CLOSING VERSE

John 15:2 of the NASB states,
"'Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He [a]prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.'"


By Stacy Duplease
of Stories by Stacy

Blog #1: Chapter #1: A New Beginning by Stacy Duplease of Stories by Stacy

Welcome to my new blog. I hope you had a nice weekend and are doing well.

If not, please let me know if you have any prayer requests. Send them to me at:

stacyduplease@storiesbystacy.com

and tell me if they are meant to be kept private or if they can be shared. If private, I'll pray for you personally. If they can be shared, I'll share them at the end of my blog four days a week (Monday, Wednesday-Friday). If you do want your prayer requests to be shared, please give me regular updates about their status. Thank you.

It's an honor for me to pray for you.

Now, let's see why I've written a new blog and start to delve into the Word in a fresh new way. This blog is focused on how to be a faithful follower of Christ.

MY LIFE'S VISION STATEMENT IS...

Turning every moment into the sacred and a time to be with God.

MY WRITING'S MISSION STATEMENT IS...

Turning every moment into the sacred and a time to be with God through my writing.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG

The purpose of this blog is to share my writing which will bring you closer to God and to be more aware of Him. It's meant to deepen your faith and help you learn how to apply the Bible (an ancient text) to your life in the year 2009. Consequently, you'll get to know God better and will have a transformed life because of this blog.

I'll share my fiction and non-fiction writing with you of every size, shape, and genre. I'll share my novels, my short stories, my devotional thoughts, how to advice, thoughts on writing, Bible study, reflective questions, and contemplations with you. Every blog will be either a stand-alone or a continuation of a story.

MY NEW SERIES IS...

Truth From Fiction Series

THE FIRST BOOK OF THIS SERIES IS...

The Book of Romans: Truth From Fiction Series Book 1

THE OBJECTIVES OF MY NEW LIFELONG BIBLE STUDY SERIES

My objectives for this series are:

1. I will write a chapter of fiction and at the end of the chapter will be a Bible study about a book of the Bible and how the beginning of each chapter is a story to illustrate a lesson to learn from the Bible chapter, a passage, or a verse.

2. To help you learn how to seek Him and heaven first and above all.

3. To help you get more into the Word (the Holy Bible).

4. To learn how to apply the Bible (an ancient text) to today and the year 2009.

5. To increase your faith.

6. To teach you how to seek Him first.

7. To teach you how to live for heaven today.

8. To teach you how to pray without ceasing.

9. To help you know how to know Him (God/Jesus) more.

10. To help you to believe what He says and that what He says is true.

11. To help you to not live for the world.

12. To help you to fight the enemy (the devil).

13. To help you not to live a stagnate life in the faith.

14. To help you to learn to cope through the curve balls of life.

15. To help you to break free from your strongholds.

16. To help you eliminate the idols in your life and anything that keeps you from Him.

17. To help you to live a life of joy in spite of your circumstances.

More to follow later...

By Stacy Duplease
of Stories by Stacy