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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One Central Author of the Bible

Posted on July 14, 2024 by billbushauthor

The Bible is an anthology, or collection of books, written over a 1,600-year span on three different continents in three different languages by over 40 authors from every walk of life including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, scholars, etc.

This is the third of four weeks to show the centrality of the Bible

There is one central author of the Bible.

Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

To Paul, all Scripture would have referred to what we know as the Old Testament. He says that the Jewish Scriptures were God-breathed, meaning that God worked through the authors of the Old Testament to weave His message throughout.

Peter explains further in 2 Peter 1:20-21, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

God didn’t put the biblical authors in a trance or dictate to them, except where He shows up with specific messages. He allowed the authors to be themselves in their time period and the Holy Spirit guided them accordingly.

So even though the Bible was written by over 40 writers, God Himself is the lone author. That’s how our holy Scriptures became consistent, useful, and powerful.

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One Central Character in the Bible

Posted on July 7, 2024 by billbushauthor

The Bible is an anthology, or collection of books, written over a 1,600-year span on three different continents in three different languages by over 40 authors from every walk of life including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, scholars, etc.

This is the second of four weeks to show the centrality, or unity, of the Bible

There is one central character in the Bible.

Psalm 40:7 says: “Then I said, ‘Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll.’” (The KJV has “the volume of the book is written of me”)

The writer of Hebrews quotes this passage in Hebrews 10:5-7: “Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “…Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll…”

The scroll or the Jewish Bible, what we know as the Old Testament, was written about the Messiah, and since Jesus is the Messiah, the Old Testament is all about Him.

He explains this to his disciples in Luke 24. He walked with two of the disciples going to Emmaus after he had risen from the dead. They did not recognize Him and Jesus didn’t tell them it was him. Instead, He listened to them and then corrected their false expectations.

Luke 24:27 says: “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he (Jesus) explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”

Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, doesn’t arrive until the New Testament, but a proper understanding of who He is and what His mission was about requires an understanding of the Old Testament. After all, it was written about Him.

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One Central Theme to the Bible

Posted on June 30, 2024 by billbushauthor

The Bible is an anthology, or collection of books, written over a 1,600-year span on three different continents in three different languages by over 40 authors from every walk of life including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, scholars, etc.

This is the first of four weeks to show the centrality, or unity, of the Bible

There is one central theme to the Bible.

Paul writes to Timothy the following words in 2 Timothy 3:14-15: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” 

After Adam and Eve sinned, God taught them the concept of sacrifice. He demonstrated deliverance through Noah. He promised Abraham that all the peoples on earth would be blessed through him.

Throughout the Old Testament we read God’s promises of salvation, we see pictures of how God saves His people, and we watch as predictions come true to validate the prophecies of the coming Messiah.

When John the Baptist saw Jesus approaching, he declared: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

In John 12:47, Jesus states: “For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.”

While preaching in Acts 4, Peter says: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Everything from Genesis to Revelation points toward the redemptive work of Christ.

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Jesus Holds All Things Together

Posted on June 23, 2024 by billbushauthor

In his gospel, the apostle John introduces Jesus with a callback to creation. John 1:1-4 says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”

John makes it clear that the Word he is writing about is Jesus in verse 14: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

Jesus made everything. Just like God and the Holy Spirit, nothing was made without Jesus’s involvement.

The apostle Paul also makes this abundantly clear in Colossians 1:16-17: “For in him (Jesus) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Jesus not only created everything, He holds it all together.

The last three weeks we’ve seen how God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are connected to Creation. The three Persons of the Trinity are seen throughout Scripture, starting with, “In the beginning.”

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The Spirit of God Hovered

Posted on June 16, 2024 by billbushauthor

In Genesis 1:2, we see the Holy Spirit’s involvement in creation.

“The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

And again in Psalm 33:6 – “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”

The Hebrew word for spirit in Genesis 1:2 is the same word used for breath in Psalm 33:6.

Job 26:13 expands on what the Holy Spirit did: “By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens.”

The word garnished in Job 26:13 means adorned or beautified.

One of the reasons landscapes and mountains and stars take our breath away is because God added a touch of beautiful when he created all things.

The word hovering in Genesis 1:2 (hovering over the face of the waters) is the same word used in Deuteronomy 32:11 and gives us a picture of what was about to take place.

“Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young,”

God was about to bring order out of chaos, give birth to everything, create beauty from nothing, while the Spirit hovered in preparation and anticipation.

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In the Beginning God Created

Posted on June 9, 2024 by billbushauthor

The Creator of everything is:

Spaceless because He created space
Timeless because He created time
Immaterial because He created matter
Powerful because He created everything out of nothing
Intelligent because creation is precisely designed
Personal because He made a choice to convert a state of nothing into something (impersonal forces don’t make choices)

The Bible claims that Creator is God. The first verse (Genesis 1:1) in the Bible states: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

One of the reasons the idea of a Creator is attacked/dismissed comes down to accountability. If a personal being created us, then the Creator has the authority to tell us what to do and to judge us accordingly. Without God, we can live our lives any way we want.

We see this throughout the Bible: God giving mankind instructions, mankind ignoring God’s direction, and God intervening/correcting people.

Ultimately, God will judge every person, nation, and spiritual being justly (see the book of Revelation), and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11).

That’s one of the points of Genesis 1:1—to lay the groundwork for God’s involvement in humanity.

The biggest miracle happens in Genesis 1:1. If God created everything out of nothing, then all the other miracles of the Bible, including Jesus’s resurrection, are simple.

The next two weeks we’ll look at the work of the Holy Spirit and of Jesus in creation.

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Genealogy Shows the Shortening of Life

Posted on June 2, 2024 by billbushauthor

In response to the second rebellion of mankind, the sons of God marrying the daughters of man, God states in Genesis 6:3, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

This didn’t happen immediately, as the table below demonstrates. Following the age at death column, notice how the life spans shrunk through the generations.

Another interesting note is the Shem, Noah’s son, was still alive when Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were born.

Once again, we see that a closer look at a genealogy, this time the one in Genesis 11, shows fascinating information behind the mundane read of numbers and hard to pronounce names.

Much of the bible is the same way. A casual read can be confusing and boring, but understanding what was written and why can open up wonderful truths and insights that bring the ancient Scriptures to life.

ScriptureManYear BornYear DiedAge at Death
     
Gen 5:32; 11:10-11Shem15562156600
           11:10-13Arphaxad16562094438
           11:12-15Shelah16912124433
           11:14-17Eber17212185464
           11:16-19Peleg17551994239
           11:18-21Reu17852024239
           11:20-23Serug18172047230
           11:22-25Nahor18471995148
           11:24-26; 32Terah18762081205
           11:26; 25:7Abraham19462121175
           21:5; 35:28Isaac20462226180
           25:26; 47:28Jacob21062253147
           50:22Joseph  110
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The Three Rebellions

Posted on May 26, 2024 by billbushauthor

Did you know there are three world-wide rebellions against God in the first 11 chapters of the Bible?

The first, of course, is Adam and Eve. God gave them everything except for one tree, yet they decided it wasn’t enough and ate of the forbidden fruit, getting them kicked out of the Garden of Eden

After God expelled them, mankind reproduced, spread out, and lived for hundreds of years. Not much is said about this period until we reach Genesis 6.

The first 8 verses of chapter 6 describe the second rebellion, where the sons of God married the daughters of humans. The wickedness of the human race was so bad that God sent a flood to wipe them out.

We find the third rebellion in Genesis 11, known as the tower of Babel. Refusing to obey God’s command to reproduce and populate the Earth, people gathered in Shinar and built a city with a tower to reach the heavens. In response, God confused their languages and scattered them over the Earth.

Unfortunately, humans are rebellious at our core, and that remains true today. A quick look at our society, our community, and even our own hearts will prove this true.

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Does Genealogy in Genesis 5 Demonstrate God’s Mercy?

Posted on May 19, 2024 by billbushauthor

Genesis 5 provides the first genealogy of the Bible, tracing man’s lineage from Adam to Noah. While genealogies can be dry to read, a closer look at them can shine light on interesting facts.

For instance, Enoch lived 365 years, but he never died. That’s because of a special circumstance. Genesis 5:24 says, “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”

Another interesting fact is that people lived a lot longer before the flood. Take Methuselah, the oldest recorded person. He was 969 years old when he died.

For each man listed in the genealogy, the Bible tells us the age they were when they had their son and how many years they lived. If we start with Adam at year zero, we can easily do the math and come up with the chart below.

Obviously, that isn’t how years are marked historically, but that isn’t the point of this exercise. Look once again at Methuselah and note the year he died. 1656.

Now let’s read Genesis 7:6: “Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth.”

What year was the flood? Noah would have turned 600 years old the same year that Methuselah died—1656.

Coincidence? Maybe. It also would be logical to connect Methuselah’s long life as a metaphor for God’s long-suffering mercy prior to judgment. Could this be an example of the point Peter was trying to make in 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

Could the flood be a demonstration of God’s mercy as well as his judgment?

ScriptureManYear BornYear DiedAge at Death
     
Gen 5:3-5Adam0930930
        5:3-8Seth1301042912
        5:6-11Enosh2351140905
        5:9-14Kenan3251235910
        5:12-17Mahalalel3951290895
        5:15-20Jared4601422962
        5:18-24Enoch622987365
        5:21-27Methuselah6871656969
        5:25-31Lamech8741651777
        5:28-32; 7:6Noah10562006950
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The Origins of Sacrifice

Posted on May 13, 2024 by billbushauthor

Last week we talked about the protoevangelium of the Bible, the first gospel, found in Genesis 3:15. That was the first promise of a redemptive plan from God. After He curses Adam and Eve in 3:16-19, we see the evidence of God’s instruction on sacrifice.

Genesis 3:21 says, “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”

It’s logical to assume this is where God teaches Adam and Eve about sacrifice since skins indicate a dead animal was involved in the process. We know that the idea of sacrifice came from God because of Genesis 4:3-7:

“In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD look with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

The Bible doesn’t explain how, but it’s clear from these verses that Cain and Abel knew that God expected sacrifices and they also knew the proper way to sacrifice.

Immediately after the original sin, God not only promised redemption but began showing mankind how He would do it.

Today, we’re still called to sacrifice, but in a different manner.

Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

As we daily sacrifice our will for God’s, let us remember the true purpose of sacrifice—to help us understand God’s love and God’s plan of salvation.

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