Have you ever had a vague sense that something was wrong inside, but you just couldn’t put your finger on the cause? Sometimes we just get so used to the noise and rush around us and even within that we don’t take the time to just get quiet and alone with God so He can re-fill our ever-decreasing spiritual tanks, so to speak. But, it may be that many are not aware that the Lord Himself once spoke to His people Israel in the Old Testament through a little-known prophet, Haggai, and told them that they were empty and unfulfilled in their lives because God Himself was making it that way! He told His people that had once been excited about doing His will but had since drifted away from fellowship with Him to consider your ways! These people had become complacent and satisfied, they thought, with caring for their own wants and forgetting about their relationship with God. Because of this, they had become very dry spiritually and empty. Everything began to go wrong for them and the Lord wanted them to know why these things were happening and how they could exchange their emptiness for the joy they’d once had serving the Lord.

Before we go any further, we must insert here the truth that the nation Israel has a more earthly destiny whereas the church in this age has a more Heavenly destiny. This is an important distinction since God used material things, such as crop failure and economic downturn to get His people Israel’s attention through Haggai and other so-called minor prophets. Yet today, He uses more spiritual maladies to get our attention. A look at the spiritual condition of many churches today is both alarming and disheartening. The systematic study of the Word of God has been largely abandoned, and even more so, Christ-honoring music such as you hear on BBN daily has been cast aside by too many churches. Yet, it is not too late to realize the cause of these troubles and return to close fellowship with the Lord by choosing to live by the principles of His Word! The BBN Bible Institute is thankful to be able to offer some courses that may very well be a help along this line. Course number 30200, The Minor Prophets taught by Dr. Donald R. Hubbard as well as course numbers 50100, What On Earth Is God Doing and 10500, Dispensational Theology both taught by Dr. Renald Showers, should bring some practical answers to many of our problems today.