WELCOME ........ All is Draft yet.

Our HolyDay Greeting to you (We often offer a card similar to this.)      2009  Draft

 Dear Ones,  Peace.    Though every day can be a Holy Day (Col. 2:16), may you  enjoy the special days that He has spoken to you (usually through the Scriptures) and that you heard Him (usually confirmed by Spirit-refilling friends).  It is a time for gratefulness for our United States, that with all it faults,  God has protected us and showed many the Way of His salvation and service—though we have oft disregarded His direction.  Christ gave us wonderful examples in His life so that we too can face suffering and even death with joy (James 1:2).     Many have accepted Jesus as Lord  (John 1:12-13), but America has  pushed Him further out of the public –and sometimes the church.   Most  Americans live with fantasy ideas;  about half the the "news" is about Hollywood or pro sports.        Please forgive us, Lord.  It is a time to  repent and give our life or rededicate it to Him and His wonderful  purposes and plan for our lives.

 “Pray for peace of Jerusalem” (Ps 122:6)  and  everywhere.   May the forthcoming HolyDays  blend our  hearts around the world to the need for Him, and lead us to compassion for the unfortunate and the lost   We see a greater interest in “pure religion”   which  specially includes   “care for widows and orphans in their distress…” (James 1:26).     Our heads and hearts need further drenching by the Holy Spirit.   The world is not handling  suffering well, though there are some outstanding pockets of progress.   We pray God’s kindest outpourings on you and yours.  Our email is bytworkaj@juno.com; phone is 616) 667-9388.     We know God will richly bless and give immense joy to all who seek to follow His Bible and His direction in everything.  He wants your help too in redeeming  and improving His world.

      Yours with love, gratitude, and prayers always, Yvonne and Al J. Bytwork  (3Jo2)   

    OUR PURPOSE  is to please and bring honor (Hebrews 13:28) to our dear God – Yahoveh (Yah, who is), Yahweh,  YHWH,  Jehovah, and haShem (the Name)  for many religious Jews feel they should not even mention the true name of God),  Adonai, LORD God, Son Jesus Christ, Yeshua,  and the Holy Spirit --  by presenting ideas and biblical principles that  are not often  spoken, written or practiced in His church.  And to encourage others  to grow  and follow His “paths of life…filled with joy in His presence” (Acts 2:28:; Psalms 16:8-11).   A goal is to stimulate helpful thinking. 

 These are our present views.  We realize that other Christians may see these somewhat differently.    If you relay your Christian website to us,  we may link to it.    Though we seek and use the counsel of others,  we alone take responsibility for our tentative thoughts.  We plan to revise this site , which will remain in  Draft form  for some time.    We hope to refine these and others topics  periodically  D.v. (Deo volente; God willing; James 4:15) in/under the buttons on the left.   Please pray even now as you read this— and for our understanding of truth, positive outlook, clarity of writing--and its usefulness to you too, our fellow travelers.

Corrections?    If you feel we misinterpret the Bible or err on any point,  you are warmly invited to send us an email  (no Attachments please) and we will  reexamine our statements and correct accordingly.  We want to represent God truthfully.    When we cite the Bible,  it does not mean that that verse is the only one that leads us to make our statements.   We are always searching for  better facts and logic.  If you wish us to write on specific topics,   just send us a brief email (address above).        Thanks for your interest in God’s Kingdom, input, patience, and prayers

       Note: This whole site  is a DRAFT.   You may see peculiar characters, e.g.  similar to aC=s with dots and lines,  often in place of ellipses.  Our webhost  and many other websites  have not yet been able to delete those NON-injurious quirks yet—pray!   We have been assured that they are not a virus, and are  found in other major websites.      We do not endorse all of our references, web links, or Useful Sites.      

The Bible --the Book above all books

      You can realize in part by the Bible verses cited  (in parentheses),  that we affirm with scholars and students of God’s Word that the Judeo-Christian  Bible is the manual for our lives, though parts are not easy to understand   or to follow.   The Bible is not only the first book printed (by Gutenberg), but it has the most copies distributed of any book in history.  And it is translated in the most languages.       The Bible came “not by the will of man at any time, but men  spoke/wrote as directed by the Holy Spirit”  (2 Peter 1:21).  Jesus  quoted the Old Testament approvingly many times though He amplified some portions (New Testament).   The Bible is the Word of God.    Though many church persons today  neither study nor apply its teachings as in the past (see  www.Barna.org ),  no other book in history has helped civilization as much as the Bible.    Dr. Paul L. Maier, a friend from W MICH U,  frequent interviewee of the History Channel and Professor of Ancient History, states in  the Forward of his illustrated seminal book  In the Fullness of Time: A Historian Looks…  ,  “Of all religious beliefs in the world, past or present, none have more thoroughly based themselves on history than Judaism and Christianity.”   To paraphrase his extensive studies:  no other  religion   had the confirmation by extant/existing manuscripts (e.g.  Dead Sea Scrolls), or comparisons with linguistics, literature, archaeology, geography,  topography, climatology,  astronomy, and economics  as has the Bible.   No book, which reveals the faults of  the Author’s closest disciples,  has made a greater impact for good   as has the Old and New Testament Bible.   With  miraculous direction,   Constantine professed Christianity,  assembled key Bishops around the Mediterranean  at the Council of Nicea in 325A.D., and published 50 copies of the then-approved Bible under the leadership of Bishop Eusebius who earlier wrote the classic, The History of the Church[to 316A.D.].    Later Bishop Athanasius, who was only a deacon at that time, composed a variation of the Nicene Creed and was among the first to list the present 27 books in the NT in the year 367.   Thru history, the devil has orchestrated the burning of the Bible.   King Jehoiakim at Jerusalem himself burned the first copy of the Bible book   Jeremiah (Jer. 36:23) in c590BC, Roman Emperor Diocletian burned all known copies in 300AD,  Tyndale's English Bibles were burned in c1530 AD,  Luther's German Bibles  were burned in 1624, and recently the Dari language Bible understood by many Afghans was burned by our military there in response to pressures in that Muslim country.    The whole Bible was written by over 40 hierarchs/recorders during about a 1500 year period, and reproduced through many updated and  careful translations.   The main ones presently with Abbreviations and their published YEAR  are listed:  NASV’60, NASB’71, NIV’78, NKJV’86, NRSV’89, NLT’96, and the ESV2001.  They all used many scholars and translators and have substantiated accuracy. "Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those that put their trust in Him" (Prov. 30:5).   You can rest your life on them.  What a joy to know that God gave us His  Roadmap/Manual/Instructions/Flight Plan/Personal Letters.   “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of God  abides forever”  (Isaiah 40:8).  We should still be talking about His Word/Bible in Heaven.   There are helpful Bible paraphrases such as CEV, LBP, and the Message,  but they usually nest commentary by mainly one person.   Not all in a paraphrase is The Gospel, for it has that singular bias.    The reliable “meat” of the Word is from the Bible translations.       Draft 10/09