THE BULLETIN OF IBTM
with Douglas Jacoby

.
14 September 2026

Good morning from Northern California, and a weekend with a cluster of house churches. These are great people, wholly committed and striving to think biblically. They’ve come together for teaching on the afterlife, healthy doctrine, and healthy spirituality. It’s an honor to be in the Bay Area again after so many years.

In a few days I head to North Carolina for the North American Teachers Conference, and also graduation for Mountain Theological Seminary. Your prayers for safe travels are always appreciated.

In today’s issue:

* Overcoming despair (iFaith talk)
* The danger of the majority (iFaith talk)
* The Passion of Pascal: some of his more famous sayings.
* Several more Q&As.
* House church resources
*And finally, the launch of our Spanish language podcast.

HOUSE CHURCH RESOURCES

Here in Northern California there are many house churches, and they seem to be meeting many spiritual needs. The fellowship to which I belong claims to comprise some 700 congregations. But when we include all the house churches, this number could easily rise to 1000, perhaps even 2000.

You can find a number of great house church resources HERE.

AGAINST THE FLOW

Want to jump-start your Bible study? Looking for ideas for your small group, or even a Sunday sermon? Not sure how to get started? iFaith resources help individuals, families, and ministry leaders focus on God’s Word and spark the love of Scripture in others. Two new iFaith talks are featured today.

The first, from 1 Chronicles, offers hope during hard times, in particular by countering despair through remembering the good. This talk was recorded in Jamaica. The second, from 2 Chronicles, urges us not to automatically go with the majority, for we may be misled.

Like the current of despair, this current too can prove destructive to our souls. As you can see, the second talk was videoed in the woods (100m behind our house in North Georgia).

If you’re new to the series, the first talk is available here. Please take advantage of Against the Flow.

FAMOUS QUOTES: PASCAL

When the great French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal (1623-1692) passed away, a remarkable discovery was made. His coat had a piece of paper sewn inside the lining. Here are a few of these words:

** Fire. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob. Not the god of philosophers and scholars... The world has not known you, but I have known you. Joy! Joy! Joy! Tears of joy!

Additional Pascal quotes:

** The heart has its reasons, which reason itself does not know.
** All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.
** Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.
** Not only do we not know God except through Jesus Christ. We do not even know ourselves except through Jesus Christ.

For hundreds of thought-provoking quotes, visit our Anthology page.

QUESTION & ANSWER

What Does the Bible Say About Dogs?
Is Jesus the Word of God in the Qur’an?
Is Satan the King of the Air?

Check out the latest entries in the Q&A bank.

IN OCTOBER: BACK TO THE 2ND CENTURY WRITERS

From 31 July - 11 Dec 2024 this bulletin offered 19 studies of the early church writers. These brave Christians—many of whom were martyred—are called the Church Fathers. To employ a more technical term, their works are the patristic writings.

If you’re unfamiliar with these intriguing and often faith-building works, please click HERE for an explanation. Next month we resume with part 20: The Shepherd of Hermas.

¡Ahora—Douglas Jacoby Pódcast En Español¡

Un pódcast dedicado a compartir los archivos de audio del Ministerio Internacional de Enseñanza de Douglas Jacoby. Nuestro objetivo es ayudar a las personas a "reflexionar sobre la fe."

There are significant financial costs entailed in converting 1000 podcasts into Spanish. Please let me know if you would like to fund this project!

Thank you!

Finally, thank you for your financial support and trust. (Again, if you are in a position to help fund the effort to convert 1000 podcasts into Spanish, please contact me.) Have a great week! — Douglas

PS: There are still two openings in our October tour to Greece and Turkey. Yes, it’s last minute but do let me know if you’d like to join Paul Copan and me.

For all bulletins 2004-2026 (100s of pages of biblical material), click here. Access the website here. New material every week—typically, every day! Become a website member ($1/week, paid annually) here. Your membership is a tremendous boost to this ministry. To donate, click here.