Today I am on my way to the Christian Booksellers Convention to premier my new book, The Faith Files: The Gospels. This is the first of three volumes that looks at every verse on faith in the New Testament, and there are a lot of them. I first wrote The Faith Files in 2001 and made the notes available to those who were receiving The Monday Memo. That is how I got started sending out my weekly Bible studies. (See the end of this Memo to find out how you can order a copy.)
When I finish working on Matthew later this year, I will complete my nineteenth New Testament book, doing a verse-by-verse study. It all started, however, with The Faith Files. If you have a project and don't know where to start - which should include just about everyone reading this Memo - I urge you to read on. If you don't think you can accomplish a lot by doing a little at a time, I urge you to read on as well.
HYPOCRITE!
In 2001, I was revising my first book, Life is a Gold Mine. At the end of the section faith, I urged readers to study all that Jesus and Paul had to say about faith as a way to increase their own faith. When I read that, I thought, "Hypocrite!" I was recommending that others do something that I had never done! I decided to rectify that by doing the study, which I thought would take a few days.
I looked up every verse in the New Testament that had the words faith, believe, believes, believing, unbelief, unbelieving and trust and found that there were hundreds of them! What I thought would take a few days required a few months! As I was compiling my notes on each verse and passage, I asked those who were reading The Monday Memo if they would like to receive my notes on what I came to call The Faith Files. Hundreds of people said they did. I would send out the notes every week to my mailing list that I compiled and maintained on my personal computer. It was a lot of work and I have never charged any money for any of my studies, and I have sent out millions of them.
You can see the unpublished portions of The Faith Files on my new website.
WHY STOP THERE?
After I completed my study of faith, I had an idea. I had always said that "one day" I wanted to write commentaries on the Bible. I decided to start such a study, determining that I would look at four verses every day and write some devotional material for those verses. At the end of every week, I would send out those notes to those who were already getting The Faith Files. The list continued to grow and today about 6,000 people receive my weekly studies.
You can see the past studies in the archives of my new site or subscribe to the weekly studies (currently from Matthew) on the site where those are posted every week.
So by studying four verses every day since 2002, I have completed studies of 19 New Testament books! Lord willing, I will have the entire New Testament completed by the end of 2009. Writing about four verses a day every day has enabled me to accomplish a huge task a little at a time. I exercise faith every day I sit down to write that I will see something in every verse and also see ways to help the reader apply those verses on that particular day.
Needless to say, I have learned a lot since I began writing those studies in 2001 and I hope my readers have, too. Now I excited to start publishing those studies with this first volume of The Faith Files. I know it is the first of many volumes to come.
So what about you? What can you accomplish if you do just a little every day? I have found that most people won't be anything because they can't see how to do everything. They won't give a little because they can't give a lot. Won't devote a little time because they don't have huge chunks of time. I decided to do what I could do every day -- four verses -- and now the end of my project is in sight. There's no telling what you can do if you apply the same principle.
Stop procrastinating and take one step at a time. If you keep putting one foot in front of the other, who knows how far you can go. The Chinese say that the journey of a 1,000 miles starts with the first step. Why not take your first steps this week? Have a great week. I know I will.
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THE FAITH FILES: I have 100 copies of The Faith Files in stock right now. I will send you a copy of The Faith Files for any contribution that you make to my ministry while supplies last. That's right, you read correctly. Just remember that your gifts help me publish every week and distribute my studies and my purpose message all over the world. Send any contribution and get this new volume that can best be summed up as follows:
“Without faith, it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6).
• Does your faith affect your everyday life?
• How do you know if you have faith?
• Is there anything you can do to increase your faith?
The Faith Files are designed to help you answer these and many more questions where your faith is concerned. John Stanko wants you to not just know what you believe but know how to apply it to your business, family, life and ministry.
In this first of three volumes, John Stanko looks at every verse that mentions faith in the four gospels. He then makes some observations and poses questions that help you understand how to apply your faith today, right now, where you are and with what you have. You can use The Faith Files for personal or small group study, but it is guaranteed to help you exercise more God-pleasing faith.
Simply go to the Contributions page on my site and use PayPal to contribute by credit card or check. Make sure you include your address and we will get your copy of The Faith Files off right away. Don't miss the great opportunity to have the first of many Bible study volumes that I will publish.
NEW WEBSITE: I sent out my special Memo last week outlining the features of my new site. If you haven't checked out the new
site, please do so, and make sure you take the free PurposeQuest Assessment that is available on the home page.
RADIO SHOW: Don't miss the upcoming broadcast of my radio show, Your PurposeQuest: The Power of a Focused Life, this coming Wednesday, July 9 at 9 AM Eastern time on the Voice America network. You don't need any special equipment or software. Just go to their website and click on their flagship station and I will be on for a live broadcast. The show will air at 2 PM in the UK, 3 PM in Zimbabwe and South Africa, 4 PM in Kenya and 9 PM in Singapore. Then it will be broadcast again 12 hours later, and after that it can be listened to or downloaded from the archive section. The show airs every Wednesday at the same time.
You can download and listen to the first three shows by going to station's archives.
Feel free to email me your questions for the show, or you can call me when the show is live at 1.866.472.5787. Here is a description of the next show:
Episode Nine: Purpose from Tragedy
Most people will never have to face the decision that Gail and Tony McWilliams had to face. Gail was advised to either abort her baby or lose her eyesight. They decided to proceed with the birth and Gail did indeed go blind. Yet that was not the end, but only the beginning of a work and ministry that is now called Generations Global. Join John as he talks to Gail about the power of purpose that can emerge even from a personal tragedy on the next edition of Your PurposeQuest: The Power of a Focused Life.
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