Family-Times.NET
About the Writer:
Lou Nicholes was born on a small farm in southern Ohio and spent the first 20 years of his life in that area. When he was 20 years of age he was drafted into the United States Army and spent 19 months in a tank battalion in Germany. While on a troop ship, with 2500 GI's on board, on his way to Germany, the miracle of miracles took place in his life. Out of a small group of 10 who attended a Bible study on this ship he was the only one who responded to the Gospel invitation to trust Christ as his Saviour and his whole purpose in life changed. From this point on his desire was to serve the Lord full time and his heart beat was with young people.
Two years after being discharged from the Army he enrolled at Philadelphia College of Bible where he graduated with a B.S. in Bible. From there he was accepted as a missionary with Word of Life Bible Clubs and began to pioneer clubs in local churches in the Midwest Region of the U.S. That ministry began to grow and after 8 years he became the Regional director for that region. When he left the club ministry in 1988, after 26 years, and transferred to the overseas division of Word of Life, the Lord had increased that ministry to 262 Bible Clubs with over 1200 laymen meeting with approximately 5000 young people weekly.
At this time he began to pioneer a short-term mission program called Youth Reachout. In the next 11 years he and his wife Thelma took over 2000 young people, 15 years old and up, to 42 countries around the world. This ministry consisted of evangelism of the lost, discipleship of the young people who went on the trips and encouragement for the missionaries in the countries where they traveled. During this time they ministered to several hundred thousand people and saw over 40,000 respond to the gospel invitation for salvation.
Now Lou is a Consultant for Word of Life and a Representative in Asia. His main concentration is opening up new countries for Word of Life in that part of the World and trying to recruit new workers for these ministries. He and his wife have two sons, Steve and Mike, who are married and directing the ministry of Word of Life in South Korea. They also have a daughter, Beth, who along with her husband Chris is teaching and directing a School of Youth Ministries in English for Word of Life, also located in South Korea.
A Word from Lou:
In 1977 the Lord challenged me with writing a Devotional Commentary, including every book of the Bible. Since that time I have been in the daily process of following the outline used in my "Personal Time" and spending additional time in personal study on these passages and sharing them with my family and at times other Christian friends. To date I have completed all of the New Testament and most of the Old Testament, storing it in the computer. A few years ago a friend, who is a computer consultant, agreed to help me put it on the Internet. In 2003, a pastor friend encouraged me to start publishing these book by book and today several of these are available on the internet and in Christian book stores. I do not profess to be a great theologian but am simply sharing from my heart to yours some of the things the Lord has been challenging me with during the years. It is my desire that the Lord might use it in some way as an added challenge to what He gives you in your "Personal Time" with Him each day.
Introduction to "Family Times":
It is my firm conviction that after salvation, one of the greatest needs in the church and in the home today is a plan and a way of accountability for personally getting into the Word of God on a daily basis. Once in awhile you may hear a challenge to read your Bible and pray but very few offer you a plan as how to do it. For many years I have been taking a survey in local churches and Bible Conferences asking basically three questions and consistently get the same results:
This reveals that most Christians know they should be doing the above, many would like to do it, but simply do not have a plan for doing it. If you already have a plan that is great, but if you do not have a plan I like my plan better than your plan. With this in mind, I would like to share with you a plan that we have been using in our family for many years. In fact, our two sons on the mission field have chosen to follow the same plan with their families and our daughter who teaches in a Christian school where she has all her students following this plan each morning and sharing it in their class devotions. She is also sharing this plan with parents and grandparents and attempting to get them to do this in their homes. It has been a great blessing and help in our family and we hope it will be a help and encouragement to you and your family. I have no greater joy than to see my children follow in the steps of the Lord and would covet the same for you.
The plan is divided into two parts:
I. Personal Time:
What is "Personal Time?" It is a time that you set aside each day to read a brief portion of the Word of God, meditate on what you have read, and keep a journal writing down the outstanding thought and how you can apply that to your life. If you follow our reading guide it will take you through the Bible verse by verse in approximately six years and you will have written your own commentary on the entire Bible. There is also a suggested verse to memorize each week, that you practice each day to help you to develop a "Through the Bible Memory Plan." You are also encouraged to have a meaningful daily "prayer time" where you keep record of how God answers your prayers.
II. Bible Principle:
"And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed." Mark 1:35
III. Since most Christians say we should do it why is it only a small percentage actually do it?
IV. What does God say about spending time with Him each day? - I Timothy 5:8
V. What are the basic ingredients for having a meaningful "Personal Time?"
VI. Family Time
What is "Family Time?" - It is a follow-up of what each family member has learned from their "Personal Time" with the Lord that day. It is an excellent way to put into practice what Deuteronomy 6:6,7 commands us to do. Much is said today about the need for all of us to have accountability partners. This is a very natural way to put this into practice. It is a great way of helping and encouraging each member of your family to have a closer relationship with the Lord and with each other.
VII. Prayer Time
Prayer time is a very important part of "Personal Time" and "Family Time." The Lord has many prayer promises in His Word and not only hears but answers prayer - I John 5:14-15. He wants us to be both consistent and persistent in our prayer life.
VIII. Devotional Commentary
In 1977 the Lord challenged me with writing a Devotional Commentary, including every book of the Bible. Since that time I have been in the daily process of following the outline used in my "Personal Time" and spending additional time in personal study on these passages and sharing them with my family and at times other Christian friends. To date I have completed all of the New Testament and most of the Old Testament, storing it in the computer. Recently a friend, who is a computer consultant, has agreed to help me put it on the Internet. I do not profess to be a great theologian but am simply sharing from my heart to yours some of the things the Lord has been challenging me with during these 14 years. It is my desire that the Lord might use it in some way as an added challenge to what He gives you in your "Personal Time" with Him each day. Please do not substitute the reading of this commentary for the reading of the Word of God. It is the reading and meditating on His Word that will give you wisdom and direction for your life.