Vetrix (Vetrix Series Book 1)

Posted on April 6, 2017 by billbushauthor

Two alien species. One threat to Earth.
But who is the real threat and who can be trusted?

Twelve-year-old Flipper didn’t believe in aliens – until he was kidnapped by one.

When he wakes up one morning on the planet Vetrix he is trapped in the midst of an inter-planetary war. As Flipper struggles to survive and find a way back to Earth he discovers he may be a descendant of one of the warring species and that his intervening in the war may be his destiny, if destiny is decided by a computer program.

On Earth, Allison begins having dreams that turn out to be real experiences. When she watches a purple man disappear with her cousin, Flipper, no one believes her. Allison’s best friend Josh agrees to help and together the two sixth-graders begin their own investigation that leads them to the truth behind the Roswell Incident of 1947 and current alien activity on Earth.

As they try to figure out how to expose the secret colony of aliens and their plans to destroy the human race, Allison attempts to use her dreams to locate and rescue Flipper.

Purchase an autographed copy of Vetrix:

Watch the Book Trailer
Read the First Chapter

Book 2: Earth
Book 3: Zentron
Book 4: Sevitan

The original cover from 2017:

Vetrix (Flipper Book 1) by [Bush, Bill, Bush, Blake]

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Messiah

Posted on March 23, 2025 by billbushauthor

Is there proof that Jesus is the Messiah promised by God?

“The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” – Psalm 110:1

Did you know that Psalm 110 is quoted more in the New Testament than any other passage?

The Old Testament has dozens of messianic predictions, so when Jesus burst on the scene, Jews of his day already had an idea of what the Messiah would look like.

When Jesus claimed the title of Messiah without meeting expectations, heads turned and tempers flared.

Only Jesus has fulfilled Psalm 110. He’s a human descendent of David who was anointed as both king in the royal lineage and high priest in the line of Melchizedek.

Jesus used Psalm 110:1 to stake his claim to divinity (Matthew 22:41-46), as did Peter (Acts 2:34-36), Paul (Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1), and the author Hebrews (Hebrews 1:3; 8:1; 10:12p 12:2).

When Jesus asked Peter who he thought he was, Peter answered, “You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15-16).

The question “Who is Jesus? is the single most important question one will ever answer.

Who do you say He is?

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Good Shepherd

Posted on March 16, 2025 by billbushauthor

If the Lord is my shepherd, what’s my obligation to those I lead?

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.” – Psalm 23:1-3

Shepherd is the primary metaphor in the Bible for God as our leader. We see that in Psalm 23. Written by David, who grew up as a shepherd, the great king of Isreal recognized God as the ultimate shepherd.

Old Testament leaders’ rampant disregard for their sheep led to a longing for a better shepherd, the promised Messiah.

Three authors of the New Testament refer to Jesus’s role as a shepherd (Hebrews 13:20-21; 1 Peter 2:25; Revelation 7:17).

David risked his life and killed bear and lion to protect his sheep, foreshadowing the Good Shepherd, God incarnate, who laid down his life for his sheep (John 10:11).

A true shepherd, a true leader, serves not to get something from the sheep but to sacrifice for his flock. Apostles, evangelists, pastors, and elders have the privilege of leading and feeding the sheep if they’re willing to lay down their lives for the sheep.

Shepherding is noble only when we suffer. This is a theological twist that’s incomprehensible to those who don’t know the Good Shepherd—our God who suffered on our behalf.

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Prophecy

Posted on March 9, 2025 by billbushauthor

Is there proof that Jesus was God’s son?

“You are my Son; today I have begotten you.” – Psalm 2:7

Twice during Jesus’s ministry, God paraphrased Psalm 2:7—before Jesus’s baptism (Matthew 3:16-17) and during the transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8).

The Old Testament predicted a coming Messiah, which simply means “anointed one.”

God referenced Psalm 2 to do more than declare his approval of Jesus; He was affirming Jesus’s deity and regal heritage to the throne of Isreal as the Messiah.

Psalm 2 has two other messianic prophecies besides verse 7. The believer’s prayer in Acts 4:25-26 cites Psalm 2:1-2. Psalm 2:9 is cited three times in Revelation (2:27; 12:5; 19:15).

With over 60 major Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, the odds of fulfilling seven of them is 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000—one in one hundred quadrillion, according to Peter Stoner, in his book, Science Speaks.

Stoner explains that’s like filling the state of Texas two-feet deep in silver dollars, painting one red, shuffling them randomly, then wandering the state blindfolded and selecting the red coin. Statistically impossible.

That’s before calculating in the other fifty-plus prophecies and their probabilities. Our God has given enough evidence to make it easy to believe in Jesus, if we’re willing to examine the evidence. And the cumulative weight of God’s predictive prophecies is overwhelming to the objective observer.

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Finding Happiness

Posted on March 2, 2025 by billbushauthor

Does God want you to be happy?

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.” – Psalm 1:1-3 (full)

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…
But his delight is in the law of the Lord…”

Psalm 1:1-3 (partial)

Have you ever heard the saying, “God doesn’t want you to be happy; He wants you to be holy?”

It’s clever, but not accurate. Happiness and holiness are not mutually exclusive. We just get them turned around.

What father doesn’t want his children to be happy? But a good parent knows a child’s happiness and well-being come from rules and boundaries.

Left to their own “happiness,” children would run in the street, play with fire, and eat candy all day. While those activities might be fun for a while, they will all eventually lead to the destruction of the child.

As an adult, how many of your biggest mistakes/regrets happened because you were pursuing happiness in the moment?

So where do we find happiness? Psalm 1 tells us.

Relationships (Psalm 1:1) – Avoid the wicked, sinners, and mockers.

Meditation (Psalm 1:2) – Delight in God’s Word.

Service (Psalm 1:3) – Being fruitful by helping others brings joy and satisfaction.

As Mark Moore says in Core 52:

“The secret to happiness is in micromoments that turn into habits. Habits continued over a lifetime, become a biography with a very happy ending.”

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Jesus and David

Posted on February 23, 2025 by billbushauthor

Was Jesus a king literally or spiritually?

“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.” – 2 Samuel 7:12

God promised that David would always have an heir on the throne (2 Samuel 7:12-13; Psalm 89:3-4; Isaiah 11:1). Imagine how shocking it would have been when the gospel writers applied this promise to a peasant carpenter.

The New Testament begins with Matthew listing David before Abraham, showing his importance as king of the Jews.

The Gentile Luke said that God would give Jesus the throne of David (Luke 1:32).

In Peter’s first sermon, he reminded the audience that Jesus was David’s heir (Acts 2:30).

The apostle Paul mentioned Jesus was David’s descendent in both the beginning of Romans (1:3-4) and in his last book written (2 Timothy 2:8).

John affirms Jesus as a descendant of David in the book of Revelation (5:5) and Jesus himself agreed (Revelation 22:16).

Yet, Jesus did not assert his kingship while on earth. The rightful heir to the throne would be anointed by God without ever asking to be and would be installed in God’s timing rather than through his own campaigning.

David was anointed king years before actually sitting on the throne. He was rejected and maligned, abused and attacked, until Saul’s self-destruction inaugurated David’s rule over Isreal.

So, too, for Jesus: suffering was the prelude to enthronement, because he did not assert his rule (Philippians 2:9-11).

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Kingdom of God

Posted on February 16, 2025 by billbushauthor

What does it take to be a great leader?

“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7

The original plan for Israel was for God to be its king (Isaiah 33:22), but Israel’s demand for a king was a rejection of God’s rule over their nation (1 Samuel 8:7).

First, God gave them the king they wanted in Saul. He was the right man from a human perspective—tall, strong, capable. Yet none of those qualities qualified him in God’s eyes.

Saul did the exact thing God told him not to do (1 Samuel 13:8-14), made a vow he neglected to keep (1 Samuel 14:24-47), and neglected to do what God had specifically commanded (1 Samuel 15:1-35).

His fatal character flaws included valuing people’s opinions over God’s commands, promoting himself through manipulation rather than waiting for God’s provision, and blaming others after his failures.

God rejected Saul and king as sent Samuel to anoint a new king—David, a young, small shepherd.

David wasn’t a perfect king, flawed on multiple levels, but he became the model leader of Isreal because he left leadership in the hands of Yahweh. He was merely God’s servant to point God’s people to God’s laws.

David refused to kill Saul given the opportunity, even though he had been anointed as the next king. After he committed adultery and murder, he repented. The Bible called David a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).

David’s flaws didn’t disqualify him from being a leader, but they did disqualify him from ruling God’s kingdom permanently.

That’s why Jesus came. Jesus claimed a kingdom, but didn’t assert himself as a king during his life on earth. Instead, He submitted himself to God and served those He had helped create.

1 Samuel 16:7 is more a description of Jesus the Messiah than of David the king, and it should characterize our own ambitions as well, if we’re to follow in the footsteps of both.

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Jesus and Moses

Posted on February 10, 2025 by billbushauthor

Did Jesus fulfill the promise to replace Moses?

“I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak all that I command him.” – Deuteronomy 18:18

Was Jesus the prophet that God promised in Deuteronomy 18?

In Matthew 5:17, Jesus claimed that he came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. Then six times in Matthew 5, Jesus states, “Moses said…but I say,” placing himself above the revered prophet.

In John, Jesus compared his crucifixion to the bronze serpent of Moses (John 3:14-15) and told the religious leaders that if they believed Moses, they would believe him (John 5:45-47).

While discussing manna, Jesus claimed to be the bread of life (John 6:26-58). During his final Passover celebration, Jesus claimed the bread was his body and the cup was his blood (Matthew 26:26-30). Paul claimed that Jesus was the rock that the Israelites drank from when Moses struck it (1 Corinthians 10:1-4; Exodus 17:6).

Nearly every author of the New Testament compared Moses with Jesus.

The author of Hebrews wrote, “Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses…” (Hebrews 3:3-6).

Two things separated Jesus from Moses: his incomparable moral life and his resurrection. Without Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, there’s no valid explanation for how he could claim to have fulfilled the prophecy of Moses, let alone surpassed his status.

Moses instituted the Passover; Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of God. Moses offered manna; Jesus is the bread from heaven. Moses miraculously provided water from the rock; Jesus is that rock.

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Holiness

Posted on February 2, 2025 by billbushauthor

How can I live up to God’s moral standards?

“I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” – Leviticus 11:45

Holiness means “set apart” and happens when God takes ordinary objects and claims the for his purpose.

Think of a toothbrush. The moment you put a toothbrush into your mouth for the first time, you become protective of anyone else using it.

Holiness happens when God proclaims, not when a person performs. Our holiness is God’s gift to us, not our gift to him. Holiness is received, not achieved.

God reminds the Israelites in Leviticus 11:45 that He chose them. “I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

God asks for the same response of holiness of us as he did the Israelites (see 1 Peter 2:9; 2 Timothy 1:9; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Revelation 20:6).

Our practice of holiness is a result of God’s proclamation of holiness, not the other way around. It’s only when God’s declaration of our holiness—our set-apartness—sinks into our souls that our actions are transformed to align with his character and nature.

When we wrestle with holiness, it’s not because we really believe what the world has to offer is better. It’s because we don’t believe that either the presence or the proclamation of God is reality. In other words, we don’t believe that God is present now or because we don’t believe he’ll show up later.

You don’t become holy through religious rites. You don’t develop holiness through sheer discipline. You become holy the millisecond God places his hand on you and says “Mine.”

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Covenant

Posted on January 26, 2025 by billbushauthor

How can I become a part of what God is doing in the world?

“Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” – Genesis 15:6

A covenant (or testament) is an agreement between two parties. God made five covenants in the Old Testament—Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David—and one in the New Testament, the new covenant through Jesus.

Mark E. Moore summarizes the covenants this way in his book, Core 52:

CovenantCondition(s)BlessingsCurses
AdamAbstain from one treeFellowship with GodDeath and exile
NoahBuild an arkSurvivalAnnihilation
AbrahamCircumcisionOffspring and landCut off
MosesTen CommandmentsLand and kingdomExile
DaivdFidelity to YahwehThrone in IsraelDivided Kingdom
NewFidelity to JesusEternal lifeDamnation

What does this mean for us as followers of Jesus?

One, we are in a covenantal relationship with God and this implies both responsibility and community. We are part of God’s kingdom, the church, and we trace our heritage back to our father Abraham.

Two, by design, all of the previous covenants pointed toward and were fulfilled by Jesus.

Three, the condition of every covenant is faith, and Abraham’s faith (trust) in God is the model of fidelity for Christians today.

Our verse this week says, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

Abraham left his homeland for a new one, circumcised his household, and willingly offered his promised son (Isaac) on the altar.

God is calling us to be both obedient to His Word in the Scriptures and to the leading of the Holy Spirit. By doing so, we are imitating the faith of Abraham.

And remember, this isn’t blind faith because our obedience is a natural response to what God has already done for us.

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The Fall

Posted on January 19, 2025 by billbushauthor

What is my problem?

“When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” – Genesis 3:6 (full)

“When the woman saw that the tree was good…she took of its fruit and ate…” – Genesis 3:6 (partial)

The story in Genesis 3 includes a naked woman, a talking serpent, forbidden fruit, and a passive husband.

Before Eve ate the fruit, she thought nothing of her nakedness. Afterward, she hid her body in shame. When we sin, shame engulfs more than we give credence, because what God created as good, Adam and Eve’s bodies, became objects of shame in the light of sin.

The talking serpent tempted Eve with a half-truth. Deception doesn’t usually come from darkness but from partial light. The serpent dangled the truth portion—the fruit was good, a delight, and desirable—and hid the dark truth until Eve and then Adam rebelled.

There are many forbidden fruits in our lives that we desire simply because we cannot have them. Pride led to Satan’s fall, Eve’s fall, and our sin on a regular basis. That’s why Jesus told us to lay down our crosses and follow Him. He doesn’t need our complete surrender and obedience, we do.

Instead of setting an example, warning her of the consequences, or urging her to stop, Adam stood passively by and watched Eve fall into temptation and then followed her example. He was with Eve doing nothing. It’s critical we stay in community and urge one another to good works.

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