Unlocking Scripture

"Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law" (Psalm 119:18, NKJV).

"So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified" (Acts 20:32, NKJV).

"'For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life..." (Deut. 32:47, NKJV).

"Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart..." (Jeremiah 15:16, NKJV).  

Readers of the Bible that fail to glean anything substantial, inspiring, or convicting have missed the point of not knowing the Author first; the Bible is meant to be a closed book to anyone nonspiritual, for it is spiritually discerned (cf. 1 Cor. 2:14).  There are foundational principles for decoding the Word just like for any book, only more so.  If one is unaware of the main message of salvation and the main diagnosis of sin and the main enemy of Satan, one will not comprehend anything intelligible or meaningful and inspiring.  We don't just read it to get inspired like one would read Shakespeare, but to be transformed and changed--it wasn't written to increase our knowledge (so don't read it for merely academic pursuits!), but to change our lives, for the Word is powerful, and living, and has the Spirit giving it convicting influence.  Sometimes readers get out of focus and experience "Bible fatigue" whereby it's lost some pizzazz or original flavor due to overly familiarization with the text; a new translation or version may be in order to refresh yourself and get back on track in the Word.

Many people claim to read the Word but have only given it passing attention and perusal.  What they ought to try is to let the Bible read them and go through them as they go through it and read it (to use figures of speech).  The Bible has a way of feeding you and making you hungry for more--it quenches your thirst and makes you thirsty--nothing else will satisfy once experienced!  Our goal is not so much to know the Word as the Author (it's a means to an end), and in our efforts to be people of the Book, to obey it and know God through it, as Jesus said in John 17:17, NKJV, "Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your Word is truth."  Our goal in learning the Word is not to just become familiar with it, but with the Author, and subsequently in a living relationship in which He speaks to us through it.

Many Christians have difficulty understanding the Word for lack of reading skill and of basic hermeneutics.  One must always put them into context (social, historical, paragraph, book, and the whole analogy of Scripture itself).  Another key is to see it all as a revelation of Christ and who He is, as revealed developmentally and gradually throughout the Bible; each book shows Christ in a new light and we can know Him in this way.  The Bible is written in many genres: historical narrative; poetry; didactive or teaching letters; prophecy; sermons; wisdom or proverbs; songs and psalms;  and parables or figures of speech, beating around the bush or plainspoken.  One reason students don't read adequately is the biblical terminology or vocabulary and they don't avail themselves of dictionaries and Bible study aids.  A simple solution may be another version or study Bible!  The primary reason not to get anything out of the Word is not reading with a purpose or not depending on the Spirit's illumination and guidance.  If we don't put anything into it or any effort, we can expect little reward (as Psalm 119:162, NKJV, says, "I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure").

Furthermore, ask questions when studying about: lessons to learn; principles to know; promises to claim; errors to avoid; duties to perform; commands to obey; prayers to echo; warnings to heed; truth to realize; and examples to follow.  We so often neglect the main message and don't see the forest for the trees; keep the main thing the main thing! Whether you understand it or get anything out of it is not God's fault, but a mirror on the condition of your soul and openness to His will and Spirit. A guideline to follow is to bring an open mind, needy and thirsty heart, and obedient spirit to the Word!  In other words, expect God to speak to your heart.  Once you've had an "Aha!" moment in the Owner's Manual of life or an existential encounter with the Word, you'll be hooked and always eager to find the Bread of Life in the Word, which is the only message that can satisfy.

Some commonsensical principles of interpretation are to view the Old Testament in light of the New Testament, and vice versa; to interpret the implicit in light of the explicit, the obscure in light of the clear, (NB:  the New Testament trumps the Old Testament in prioritizing interpreting) and the narrative in light of the didactive or teaching passages; letting Scripture be its own Supreme Court and its own interpreter by letting cross-reference verses shed light on a passage; not to fabricate some far-out, far-fetched understanding comes from an isolated passage; and remembering that no Scripture is of any private interpretation (cf. 2 Pet. 1:20) and we have the responsibility to interpret it correctly and not become subjective; we have a right to our own applications and opinions, but not our own interpretations!  We have no right to fabricate our own truths or go off on a tangent all alone, avoiding taking some far-fetched idea from an obscure passage.  Taking the Bible literally doesn't mean we don't read certain passages as plays on words or figures of speech, but we do take it at face value when it's called for!  It should go without saying that all rules of inference and logic must be followed.

To be purpose-oriented, one must simply seek the purpose of the text as the author intended (what occasioned it?), before applying it to yourself--that entails reading with a purpose and not aimlessly.  Interpretation comes before application.  A mistake by the beginner is to read into the Word, rather than what's in it or reading out of it.  Finally, you can't just read any verse at random and expect it to be a divine message from the Almighty! The whole idea of reading with a purpose is to arrive at some take-away to meditate on as spiritual food for the day. The idea is to unlock the Word one verse at a time, but not to lose focus on the main message of salvation in Christ.  This is called bibliomancy and is not recommended.  (To get a clear view, one must see the big picture and know the gradual unfolding of the redemption story, or be able to walk through it.)   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Futility Of Debunking Christianity...

  "There are more marks of authenticity in the Bible than any profane history."--Sir Isaac Newton

Learned scholars, such as David Hume, Bertrand Russell, and John Stuart Mill, have tried to debunk the Christian faith in vain, proving themselves ignoramuses in the process.  Debunking our faith entails much more than raising an objection, such as the question about the existence of evil in the world, or the denial of miracles in one's worldviews, nor of objecting to Chrisitan conduct or church history.  No one is going to come up with some challenges after twenty centuries that will bring Christianity crumbling to its knees without an answer--volumes have been published to answer critics, including the Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, by Archer Gleason and Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible, by John W. Haley. The faith has always out-thought the attacks! 

There are no new questions being raised, but just the repetition of the old ones.  People don't believe because they don't want to believe; they say believers have a psychological need to believe, but they have a psychological need not to believe--it interferes with their mores; it costs something and they don't want to make the sacrifice, not thinking their souls are worth the risk, when not believing costs more.

Many skeptics and this is the prevailing secular, intellectual mindset today, posit that you cannot believe in modern science and miracles at the same time:  science has largely undermined the faith of believers just like superstition.  But the question of miracles is not a scientific issue or in its province, but a matter of philosophy and theology--it's not subject to scientific scrutiny!  Any event that cannot be repeated, observed, or measured is not subject to scientific analysis, and history is nonrepeatable.  There must be laboratory conditions, a test tube, or some means of controlling and measuring variables and constants.  The best we can do is verify the veracity and credibility of the witnesses and those writing historical accounts and their trustworthiness and reliability.

Basically, though,  it's not the miracle of the resurrection per se, the one that is the "Gibraltar" of the faith, and absolutely necessary for its credibility, but the very concept of miracles altogether that raises an objection to scientists.  It is sheer scientism or using science to make postulations about issues out of its domain and thinking that science is the only reliable means of knowledge, that says miracles are impossible.  The resurrection was a one-time event, not subject to science, since it cannot be put into laboratory conditions, with variables and constants, and verified by repetition, observed, or measured.  If you weren't there, how do you know, except by faith?  If there is a God, then the issue is resolved, case closed.  Scientists have faith too:  in scientific empiricism and that it is the answer to all questions and problems plaguing man.

It is easier to doubt, and one came to Jesus asking Him to "help [his] unbelief."  Thomas was told not to "be unbelieving, but believing."  It is a choice to believe: a sort of sixth sense--the vast majority of our knowledge came about by faith, and very little is by direct experience, hands-on, or first-hand knowledge.  The default position was once to accept God and no one dared go against the grain, rock the boat, or upset the applecart in doubting this as a "given."

Debunking Christianity has a lot more to do with the denial of miracles: it's God's answer to our sin problem and dilemma and need for purpose, meaning, and dignity in life--man has always wanted to live forever and God has set eternity in our hearts--it is ontological and anthropological proof that every tribe and nation has some rudimentary or advanced system of faith in God known as a religion or tradition.  You can't search the remotest rain forest in the Amazon and not find a tribe without a developed religious tradition.  Is it not possible that man believes in God by virtue of evidence and this comes from God as proof of His existence (cf. Rom. 1:20)?

Christianity is a faith relying on historical, verifiable records and takes the leap of leaving many books that can be checked for historical accuracy--indeed, some scholars have tried in vain to disprove the historical reliability of Scripture and have even become believers in the process.  No other faith dares to take such a chance on the historical record that could be verified or disproven by archaeologists or historians.  God has made the faith welcome to anyone's scrutiny!  Why is it that if a secular historian disagrees with the Bible that he is considered the unbiased one and the one to lend credence to? 

How is the scholar to deny the experience of the individual whose life was dramatically changed and transformed by the living Christ?  It isn't like a group of people claiming that putting a poached egg on their heads makes them feel good because there is historical evidence to back up and verify the claim as objective testimony of God.  Personal experience may not be everything, but it is something and cannot be denied, but must be reckoned with and accounted for, or explained away.

Christians don't just believe for no reason or because they are credulous or gullible, but because there are sound reasons to believe.  Not knowing why one believes or doesn't believe defines "blind faith."  Christians don't believe for no reason, and God asks no one to kiss their brains goodbye or to commit intellectual suicide--as John Stott said, "We cannot pander to a man's intellectual arrogance, but we must cater to his intellectual integrity" [i.e., playing mind games or on a power trip, not willing to believe even if all their questions were answered].  It is not an intellectual problem, but a moral one, and the heart of the matter is that it's a matter of the heart.  No one can believe something he is not intellectually convinced of for long, and the experience of the faith must prove true and valid or one will fall away and abandon the faith.  The proof of the pudding is in the eating!   We can experience Christ personally: "Taste and see that the LORD is good" (cf. Ps. 34:8; 1 Pet. 2:3).

Jesus was clear to say that they "would not believe," (cf. John 12:37), not that they could not believe--it's a matter of the will; if one wants to know and is willing to obey God, he will know whether it's of God and God will authenticate Himself  (cf. John 7:17, Matt. 7:7).  God is no man's debtor and promises to let Himself be found by all sincere seekers, but He tolerates no triflers and the insincerity-faith is what pleases God, not curiosity or intellectual arrogance.

Disproving the resurrection is not the same as denying people rise from the dead as a rule--this was a one-time event and one must prove Christ didn't rise from the dead (many theories have been postulated, but it's never been debunked).  One must sincerely consider the overwhelming and compelling circumstantial, historical evidence and make one's choice to believe--faith is a choice!  Skepticism is based on irrational bias, thinking secular scholars alone can be trusted.  For those unwilling there will never be enough evidence; for the willing, there is ample evidence!  One must discredit the experience of Christ as well as the resurrection.

In today's postmodern movement, God is seen as "dead" or irrelevant to the final equation, and unnecessary to our dilemma.  Man's problem is sin and denying this puts him in opposition to the truth.  There is such a thing as knowable, objective, universal, absolute truth, whether philosophers accept this or not.  Jesus claimed to be the personification of truth: I am the truth (cf. John 14:6) and declared that we can know it ('You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free," cf. John 8:32).

People who deny God don't admit Him into the pool of live options or answers, but rule Him out from the get-go.  They use circular reasoning in believing there's no God, and then conclude there can be no God.  People who are debunking Christianity are against God and not just Christ, and find that Him claiming to be the only way to God as offensive, and so they are biased and not open-minded themselves.  All religions can be wrong logically, but not all can be right; it is probable that one can be right and all the others wrong. The statement by George Lucas that he had come to the belief that tall religions were right in nonsensical in light of contradictions   In sum,  No one can disbelieve due to a lack of evidence!   Soli Deo Gloria!

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The Value Of Stewardship

"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, who you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's"  (1 Cor. 6:19-20, NKJV).

"My times are in your hands..." (Psalm 31:15, TNIV).

"[M]aking]the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:16, TNIV). 

As Psalms 50:10 says, God "[owns] the cattle on a thousand hills," and that is not hyperbole but saying that He owns it all; we're mere stewards working for God's glory to be rewarded accordingly (cf. 1 Cor. 3:8ff).  He has loaned us everything we have and we will give account to God for our stewardship (cf. Rom. 14:12).  We are to do everything to the glory of God per Col. 3:23 and 1 Cor.10:31 and that means our deeds are to be done in good stewardship.  Being unaccountable and irresponsible is sin and an act of rebellion to the authority that we must answer to at the Judgment Seat of Christ--being Christians means God owns us and we own nothing, but are mere managers in His interest, doing God's business.

When saying that we are stewards of everything, it includes the whole gamut of blessings: influence; power and authority; fame and reputation;  talents and acquired or natural skills; spiritual gifts;  resources; money; portfolios; material belongings, paraphernalia, and possessions; real estate or hearth and home, including inheritance; opportunities; energy; ambitions and drives; relationships; business contacts, connections and acquaintances; time; physical abilities, skills, and talents; vacations, vocations, and free time or even downtime; work or employment or any on-the-job opportunities; minds (wasting them is a horrible tragedy); bodies (beauty, looks, attractiveness, endowment, voice, etc.); personalities and temperaments; insights and discernment (spiritual and intellectual); education, expertise, knowledge, wisdom, and schooling; responsibilities, social life; and even friends and family assigned or entrusted to our care.

Some people are blessed in many ways, perhaps all, but all are blessed in some ways and no one can claim he is not blessed by a good God who cares for him. In short, how we spend our time and money reveals a lot about us, and we have no excuse not to do everything in the name of the Lord to His glory for however we are gifted, acknowledging that we gift others in return.  A word to the wise:  we're all giftees whether we would call ourselves gifted or not.

God meant for us to have an abundant life in Christ, or life to the max glorifying and serving Him, and we are stewards of all the opportunities and chances we get to fulfill the Great Commission. We are, as Scripture says, stewards of the mysteries of God (cf. 1 Cor. 4:1)!  Stewardship involves much more than whether we tithe because it means complete surrender to God's will and being willing to do what we are called to do and be content to follow Him in doing it.  God will indeed give us all we require to do His will when we are obedient.   Indeed, even our bodies don't belong to us but have been purchased by Christ--we are not our own (cf. 1 Cor. 6:19).

When it says to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength (per Matt. 22:37), it means with everything we've got ("BLESS the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!" per Psalm 103:1, NKJV), and God has blessed us with as stewards--to whom much is given, much is required (cf. Luke 12:48).  It doesn't matter what you do, or how many gifts you have, or even what they are, but what counts is the spirit you exercise them in and how much love you give--for we all have different gifts, but the same Spirit!   "... The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love," according to Gal. 5:6, TNIV.

Many are under the delusion that their time is for them to do as they please and it belongs to them and God only owns our time at church or even just on the Lord's day; however, God owns our time and has allotted us each so much to use for His glory--when our time is up we are taken home to glory.  As David said in Psalm 31:15 that his times were in God's hands or that his future was in His control, so we must surrender our time to God and not see providential events as interruptions, but as opportunities!  Jesus was never too busy for the Lord's work and serving others!  We all must learn to prioritize our opportunities and obligations, using time wisely, as if it's of the essence and cannot be taken back or relived.

We must all take spiritual inventory and even make regular spiritual checkups to see how we're doing with our stewardship, for we will be held to account.  (Romans 14:12, TNIV, says, "So then, we will all give an account of ourselves to God.")  We also must learn that even the lessons we learn along the way to the Celestial City are so that we can pass them on to others in ministry to them as good stewards of the mysteries of God.  When we are faithful in what we know, He teaches us more and gives us more illumination or enlightenment.  Some of us are blessed with more time, as it were, in that we are not as busy with chores or duties, and can manage our time better to the glory of God.  We can learn to do everything to the glory of God and to redeem the time for the days are evil (cf. Eph. 5:16). We must be vigilant not to waste time in worry (anticipating the future); regret (being sorry about the past) or angst (misinterpreting the present), because these factors will bring depression and mood swings, and we must be careful to live in the present, but to the glory of God in light of eternity and the Word of God--the past is over and the future doesn't belong to us.

Don't ever say that you don't have the time to serve God or do His will, for we are all given equal time and opportunity to redeem it for Gods glory--it's isn't as much what you are doing, but the spirit it is done in that matters most in stewardship.  Some people seem to have a lot of money, and God has blessed them financially or materially, but they are accountable for it and are perhaps more responsible in that sphere of stewardship; while the next person may seem to have time on his hands to do God's bidding, but maybe he has demonstrated more responsibility in that sphere and will be accountable for how he redeems it for God in like manner--we're all gifted in different areas of responsibility, but are all accountable and will answer to Christ at the bema or final audit of our life one day.

In the final analysis, this life is but a mere staging area, test, or try-out for eternity and we are just being suited for our final reward according to our accountability and responsibility in being stewards or managers of God's grace.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Jesus Emptied Himself

"He became what He was not; He continued to be what He was."--Athanasius, the father of orthodoxy
"But he emptied himself by taking the form of a slave and by becoming like human beings.  When he found himself in the form of a human, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:7-8, CEB).
"I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me" (John 6:38, NIV).
"I have ... [completed] the work you gave me to do" (John 17:4, NIV).
"The Son can do nothing by himself" (John 5:19, NIV).
"My food is to do the will of him who sent me' (John 4:34, NIV).
"... Whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say" (John 12:50, NIV).
"Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself" (Phil. 2:5, MSG).
ALL VERSES IN ITALICS FOR MY EMPHASIS!


NB:  In God's economy, the way to be filled is to be emptied and we must empty ourselves of all our love for self or empty ourselves of all which contradicts God. Putting God first is the only place to put God.  He will not accept second place or play second-fiddle. 

Paul talks about the kenosis or emptying, of Himself concerning Christ in Philippians 2.  The definition of the doctrine of kenosis is that Christ voluntarily laid aside His glory, restrained His power; accepted hardship and human limitations, and confined Himself in His human nature to the limits of space, time, and knowledge of man's experience.  He never gave up any part of His divine nature, but became subordinate to the Father's will, not doing anything He didn't see the Father doing or even saying anything the Father didn't tell Him to say. Note that subordination doesn't mean or imply inferiority, but only a sphere of authority and domain of responsibility.  He voluntarily gave up on the independent use of His divine privileges and powers to live as a man in all his weaknesses.  He wanted to be able to identify fully with the human predicament and condition, in order to intercede for us on a sympathetic basis, knowing the pain and suffering first hand. Likewise, we can resonate with Him.  In plainspoken language, Jesus became the subordinate One to save those who were insubordinate!

He spared Himself no problems common to man!  He was truly acquainted with suffering and grief on our behalf in order to be a faithful high priest, savior, and king for us--that we can relate to and can be identified with.  Everything about Him was a story of and typical of humiliation because He left His throne in heaven to humble Himself all the way to the cross in obedience to the Father's interposed will.  In so doing He represented us and the Father was able to accept His obedience vicariously for us so that we could be justified by an act of imputation.  Yes, Christ didn't just die for us but lived the perfect, moral, and spiritual life on our behalf too (that is why He told John the Baptist that they "must fulfill all righteousness").

He came to die, the only man who ever lived, whose mission it was to simply to die and lay down his life.  From the very get-go, He was a man on a mission par excellence and set His sights on Calvary.  He asks us to carry our cross and follow Him, but our crosses pale in comparison to His and He asks us to do nothing He didn't do, and He spared Himself no level of suffering--at least He was honest enough to warn us and tell us to count the cost of discipleship, for He exempted Himself no pain.  In sum, we must acknowledge Him as the living, victorious Lord of Life and Victor over Satan, sin, and death, our enemies--He is Lord of all or not at all!

But Christ's life is more than an example for to follow as the so-called guide to life or humanity, or some good life to mimic: He was born under the Mosaic Law and lived subordinate to it in perfect obedience on our behalf--so that His perfect righteousness could be imputed to our account.  He must be seen not simply as a martyr for a good cause (for He laid down His life willingly), but as a victory over death and the only way to conquer it.  Indeed, His cruel death was not the end of Him!  The Pharisees' worst nightmare came true: He rose from the dead and transformed the lives of the witnesses and disciples who saw Him.  Benjamin Franklin wrote in his Autobiography that "we should imitate Jesus and Socrates," but there is no comparison between the two; Jesus is in a moral category by Himself and we don't compare Him, but contrast Him--we don't speak in terms of comparatives or superlatives either.  Calling Him the best man who ever lived, or the best teacher, best example, or example of mankind doesn't do Him justice--we don 't say Jesus the Great either because this is an insult to His glory and puts Him on the level of other so-called great men of history.  What Alexander the Great did was a mere human achievement, but what Jesus did was divine!  Pascal said that what Muhammad did any man can do, but no man can do what Christ did.

Jesus had very humble beginnings, not born as one would think of a conventional king, and died in conditions of what has been termed as "ignominious." Crucifixion was repugnant!   Everyone can relate to Christ on some level, not just kings and princes, but the common man in his predicament and forlorn situation.  For instance, Muslims cannot conceive of a God or Savior being "defeated" by man and dying on a cross in humiliation.  They see the cross as an ignominious death too low for God.  But this is God's way of defeating Satan: let the devil think he won and do all the evil he can, and turn it into good or a victory despite his attempts.  God indeed does turn evil into good by overruling it by Providence. Like Psalm 76:10 says, God "makes the wrath of man to praise Him."

Jesus never gave up His divine attributes, but only their independent use or for His own advantage. While on earth in His subordination, He obeyed the Father and did His will perfectly:  "Although he was a Son, he learned obedience by what he suffered" (Heb. 5:8, NIV).  You can see every one of His attributes played out and at work in the gospels, but nowhere did He seek to display them for personal gain or to subvert the Father's will.  His subordination was completely voluntary a and His subsequent glorification and exaltation was well-deserved due to His work as our Savior.  You might think it's strange to show your love by dying for someone, but this was the only way to save us and Jesus said that to lay down your life for a friend is the sign of no greater love--He gave it all, the ultimate sacrifice!   

In application, we ought to have the same mindset as Christ ourselves, who didn't grasp the concept of equality with God, but humbled himself--let this mind be also in us, because in God's economy, the way up is down, emptying comes before filling, and humility before honor;  he who humbles himself in God's eyes will be exalted!  Having the attitude of John the Baptist, who proclaimed in John 3:30, ESV:  "He must increase, but I must decrease."  We must empty ourselves or forget about ourselves to serve others, not being full of ourselves in the process!  We ought not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought (cf. Rom. 12:3), but to regard others in honor, giving preference to them (cf. Rom. 12:10).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Doubting The Bible?

"The Bible has more marks of authenticity than any profane history."--Sir Isaac Newton
"It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference."--Nelson Glueck, the renowned Jewish archaeologist
"There can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial historicity of the Old Testament tradition."--Dr. William Albright, famed archaeologist

The Bible is like a caged lion that can defend itself.  It is self-authenticating, meaning that the highest authority it appeals to is itself because if it appealed to any outside source, that would become the highest authority and arbiter of truth.  When they ask you to prove the Bible, just tell them, "No, you do it!"  They can do it themselves by reading it--it reads you as you read it!  All documents without apparent self-contradiction or reason to disregard legally must be accepted with the burden of proof going to the skeptic--otherwise, it's assumed true and genuine.

It sure is a wonder that if a secular historian says one thing and the Bible another the secular one is considered legit?  The Bible has never been found mistaken historically and that should be ample reason not to doubt its historicity on any fact.  Christianity is primarily a historical religion or it's nothing, and there are no historical absurdities or inaccuracies in it.  You would think with all the historical references there would be some mistake, but none have been verified, though many have tried to discredit the Word and in the process have become believers.

You don't need to believe the Bible to become a Christian; after all, the Greeks Paul appealed to, didn't either; however, if a person doesn't believe it he should be able to tell you what its main point is and what it's about and why he doesn't believe.  The Bible is one of those books like Das Kapital by Marx, The Origin of Species by Darwin, and Mein Kampf by Hitler, that people refer to, but have not read or studied--their knowledge is second-hand and unverified.

The Bible is alive and powerful and can radically change a person from the inside out through faith, repentance, and regeneration.  A person is never the same after an encounter in the Word and finds out for oneself that it's for real.  The Bible claims to be able to divide asunder soul and spirit and can discern the thoughts, intents, and attitudes of the heart (cf. Heb. 4:12).  It's the sword of the Spirit (cf. Eph. 6:17) as the offensive weapon of choice for the believer and knowing it gives us the answer to life's issues.  Even Thomas Jefferson said that it makes men better citizens, fathers, and husbands.  It doesn't become the Word of God upon an existential encounter but is the Word of God regardless of your experience with it.  The Bible feeds you, but then makes you hungry!  It is applicable to all of life and life's academic disciplines.  It is God's voice and method of communication to the believer and He promises to speak to us via the Word.

Even a casual observer will notice the uniqueness of Scripture.  It's inspiration from God and propositional truth; it's canonicity or selection as to which books belong--the Church Fathers didn't vote on it, but recognized them as genuine using key checkpoints or criteria as standards; and it's faithful transmission and copying, showing utmost fidelity and integrity to the originals--indeed the evidence shows it has been preserved and not corrupted, as the Muslims claim.

The Bible's very existence is a miracle since it has withstood many attempts at annihilation and suppression.  It's the most loved and probably the most hated book on earth because there is room for little middle ground of attitude.  With over 2,000 predictive prophecies fulfilled, it shows accuracy and not a few lucky guesses. Archeology has confirmed it's historicity with over 25,000 digs without a contradiction!  There is much corroborating evidence in extra-biblical sources to verify key facts of Jesus' life.   Indeed, the stones cry out, as Jesus testified (cf. Luke 19:40)! Thousands of times Scripture directly claims divine authorship as it quotes God, saying: "Thus saith the LORD," or its equivalent.   If it can be verified on so many levels (there are no scientific absurdities either), then why not trust it on the level of spiritual truth and revelation?  It's more than great literature, though some do see it that way, and you don't just read it once and put it aside; it's a lifelong adventure that you never put back on the shelf for storage or show.

It's blind faith not to have credible and rational reasons and facts to support one's faith or to believe for no sound reason.  The skeptic who is just playing mind games or engaging in a power trip has blind faith if he's not willing to reading it with an unbiased, open mind. You don't need all the answers to believe the Bible--all knowledge begins in faith (cf. Prov. 1:7)!  We believe in order to understand according to Augustine.  

The trouble is that many have preconceived notions and opinions and only believe what they want to believe and reject all other facts.  The Bible has withstood centuries of criticism and attack, and no one will come up with some question that hasn't been encountered and answered, or cannot be reconciled after nearly 2,000 years of preaching.  It's a miracle we even have the Bible!  We don't need to be reformed nor informed, but transformed!  Finally, the Bible wasn't written to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives!

   Soli Deo Gloria!

God Is With Us

"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"  (Col. 2:9, NKJV).


His name is Jesus (meaning "this Lord is salvation"), but He is "God with us" ("Immanuel") in the flesh or incarnated.  The full nature of God is manifest in Christ (cf. Col. 2:9) and God is personified for us to see, all we need to know is in Him and what we can know.  The whole revelation of God, as He is to be known and worshiped, is in Christ Jesus--to see Him is to see the Father and to accept and worship Him is to do so with the Father. Jesus left us, but not as orphans, the Holy Spirit was given as a Comforter and Paraclete to guide and enlighten us.

We are actually better off with the Holy Spirit within us than when Jesus walked the earth as the God-man among us.  We have both the whole counsel of God and the inward witness of the Spirit to be our inner comfort and witness.  Christianity is about Christ and to remove Him is to disembowel it and neutralize its teachings and reality.  You can remove Muhammad from Islam or Buddha from Buddhism and the religions stay intact, but not so with our faith: it is about Jesus beginning and ending, all else is circumference--every other issue is peripheral.  We could not know what God was like except for the incarnation, and our access to Him would be limited without His intercession and meditating on our behalf. 

We need to know what God is like to know how to live and Jesus is the express image of God with skin on for us.  Of men inspired by God or inhabited by God, there have been many, men called by God and lead by God numerous, men of God and godly men countless, but Jesus stands out unequaled and unsurpassed as the God-man, unlike any of His predecessors and disciples--you simply cannot improve on Him.  He is not a lord nor a god, but the Lord and God personified--the Word become flesh, and the Word is God.

According to Francis Schaeffer, Christianity is about "the God who is there."  Sometimes we may wonder where God is, but He is right here as close as His name, and we might wonder and realize He was there all the time.  Surely, He was there and we knew it not--that is the commentary on some people's spiritual life. For wherever two or three are gathered in His name, there He is!   As the title implies, Immanuel, Christians have the Holy Spirit and God with them wherever they go never forsaking us (cf. Matt. 28:20).

We must endeavor to attempt great things for God and expect even greater blessings in return because we can be assured that God is with us and will guide us all the way.  When God is in something, it will succeed.  There is a story of Saint Theresa, who said she desired to erect a convent, and when asked of her resources, said she had twelve pence.  They told her that even Saint Theresa couldn't do much with only that; she replied that God and Saint Theresa could do anything.  We can see that the only important thing is whether God is in it or not; we don't bring our plans to God for approval, but find His will and do it and He will provide the resources.  If we are led to do something from the Spirit, God will provide.

Jesus became what we are and what He was not, but continued to be what He was--He never gave up His divine nature, but became man as the God-man.  He is not a deified man nor a humanized God, nor a man with divine attributes, nor a God that acts or appears as a man.  He is not a God in human disguise either, but fully man and fully God, perfect man, perfect God--two natures united mysteriously into one nature forever.  He feels our pain because He Himself experienced the worst man could dish out Himself.  Could you identify with a God who knew no pain nor had any first-hand experience as a man in our world?  Not only can we relate to Him, but He identifies with us and is in a position to make intercession for us.  God is with us when we need Him most, and whatever happens, we will not be overwhelmed because of His presence through the Spirit abiding in us.

We must be careful not to limit Him nor put Him in a box:  He was a great teacher; He was a divine Healer; He was a miracle worker; He was a great leader, etc.  You cannot speak of Him in comparative nor superlative terms, such as saying He is Jesus the Great, or even the greatest leader, teacher, model, nor influence man has ever seen or for that matter, it diminishes Him by saying these things, for He cannot be compared but must be contrasted, the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in His nature for our benefit so we can know God personally and have a relationship with one that identifies with us on our level and we can resonate with Him, which is mutual.  He feels our pain!  Pronouncing Him in human terminology such as Jesus the Great doesn't do Him justice and no man can be what He was nor step into His shoes and do what He did (a regular man could do what Muhammad did, but no man can do what Christ did!).

Jesus took on the infirmities of man in the weakness of the flesh to identify with us and dwell in our midst.  He always was, is, and will be the Lord of all and couldn't be our Savior, if not God with us!  He emptied Himself of the independent usage of His divine attributes and obeyed the Father's will and didn't act independently on His own--for He could do nothing of Himself.  The wonderful thing is that we can taste and see the Lord is good and find it out for ourselves and experience His presence in the same Spirit that His disciples did, opening our eyes to spiritual truth and showing us the way.  In the final analysis, Jesus will not barter away His nature nor cease being God with us in the flesh!     Soli Deo Gloria!

The Need To Know--Is Ignorance Bliss?

"My times are in your hand..."  (Psalm 31:15, ESV).
"My future is in your hands..." (ibid., NLT). 
"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever..." (Deut. 29:29, ESV).
"They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience"  (1 Tim. 3:9, ESV).
"Knowledge is power."--Sir Francis Bacon (cf. Prov. 24:5).

Even though intelligence officers and personnel in the NSA have top-secret security clearances and access, they still must demonstrate a need to know in order to protect classified info.  This is a hedge of protection to prevent people from knowing too much and having a higher likelihood of betraying it.  They say everyone has a price and they don't want to put personnel into temptation and give them the opportunity; in other words, the purpose is to keep honest people honest.  Even the president doesn't have a need to know certain intelligence and is spared the details on many matters of espionage.  Just like "power tends to corrupt," and "absolute power corrupts absolutely," according to Lord Acton, so also too much info coupled with opportunity can likewise corrupt an individual, including those in power.  There are some things people are just better off just not knowing and remaining ignorant of for the sake of sanity.

God only reveals His will to us on a daily basis as a rule and no one has the outline for his whole life given at the beginning of his career.  We would not be able to accept dismal events and cannot bear the burden of more than one day at a time.   Our future is sure in God's hands and He sees what's best for us.   The principle to live one day at a time is a lifesaver and keeps us from having attitudinal disparities and mood swings--trying to live in the future or dwell on the past.  We ought not to misinterpret the present either, but live in light of God's Word and eternity.

They say that ignorance is bliss!  Sometimes it is because we cannot bear the truth or the knowledge yet.  But there is a kind of willful ignorance that is sin.  When we neglect to know what we did have the opportunity to know, we are culpable and will be judged accordingly; for instance, no one has an excuse for not believing in God--the evidence is everywhere (cf. Rom. 1:20).  The person who got stopped by the police for speeding and claiming ignorance of the law finds out it's no excuse either.  If you travel abroad you are still responsible to know traffic laws and customs.

How does this all relate to believers then?  We are given the whole counsel of God in the Scriptures and also ample opportunity to know it and be exposed to the truth.  Everyone who owns a Bible cannot claim ignorance because he never found time to read it!  Staying away from church intentionally is wrong and doesn't excuse one from knowing the truth.  The more you know or have the opportunity to know the more culpable and responsible you are.  Children, who are innocent, are not judged by the same standards.  Willful sin will be judged by God and the Christian who believes he can avoid the assembling together of believers and remain ignorant will find out the truth at the Bema of Christ and will have a rude awakening.  It's better to sound the alarm now and give the body their wake-up call so they will not be intentionally or willfully ignorant--especially ignorant of God's will and Word.

God chooses to guide us one day at a time in order to foster faith in us and to give us the challenge to seek His will and presence in our lives.  God doesn't want robots who simply follow a program and have no choices to make along the way.  In other words, we are not meant to be automatons. If God has blessed some Christian with wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, it's on a need-to-know basis and there is a rationale behind it in God's eyes.  Knowledge is never the end per se, but the means to the end and must serve a purpose--not just to know all the answers or be a better specimen than the run-of-the-mill believer who is relatively ignorant.  When we share and learn from our knowledge, God grants more light.  But remember the Christian principle that enlightenment comes from light and God is light to us.

We can celebrate the fact that God holds the future and we don't know it and cannot control it, namely, because we couldn't handle it without being ill at ease.  We shouldn't be curious concerning the future, because we are privileged to know the One who holds the future!  God knows our limits and what is in our best interest and will make us in the image of Christ, by way of affliction.  When Christ brings us to a trial, He will bring us through it.  Just like the need to know, God grants no one a monopoly on the truth so that it shouldn't go to his head, because "knowledge puffs up," according to 1 Cor. 8:1 It is the immature believer who balks at learning the things of God in depth and shies away from doctrine; we are stewards of the mysteries of God and faithfulness counts!

In the final analysis, everyone deserves the knowledge of the gospel message and the word must get out--the good news is for everyone who is willing to hear it and called of God (cf. Acts 2:39)!  No one has an excuse to be ignorant of the Great Commission as a believer or the knowledge of God as an infidel.  Jesus came to bear witness of the truth, and everyone who is of the truth hears Him--no excuses!  All believers should realize the value of knowing the scoop or the lowdown on what the Bible teaches, and bring every thought into the captivity of Christ while his mind is renewed in the image of Christ and he girds up the loins of his mind (cf. 1 Pet. 1:13) to fight the good fight, not from ignorance, but from enlightenment.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Roots Of Secular Humanism

Humanism, An Idea From Antiquity:

You may believe that Secular Humanism is something "new under the sun," but it was an idea in the Aegean Sea area of classical Greece. Protagoras said, "Man is the measure of all things" (homo mensura).  It goes earlier than that to the plain of Shinar in Gen. 11:4 where men sought to "make a name for themselves."

"For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude.  Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened claiming to be wise, they became fools..." (Romans 12:221-22, HCSB).  

"...Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?  (Job 15:8b, NIV).

What the essence of humanism is, is glory to man in the highest:  the deification or exaltation of man, and dethroning of God.  Humanism 101:  "Up with man; down with God, because we can do good without Him!"  What they mean is to start with man as the measure or standard and judge everything accordingly:  Instead of starting the rationale with God--"In the beginning God..," the commence with man and his finite cerebral capacity, whereby God is infinite and the Greeks said that the finite cannot grasp the infinite--how ironic!  "In all his scheming, the wicked arrogantly thinks: 'There is no accountability since God does not exist" (Psalm 10:4, HCSB).  "...[A]ll is thoughts are, 'There is no God'" (Psalm 10:4, ESV).  (God is in none of his thoughts!)  When you take God out of the reckoning man becomes depraved without limit and God gives them up to go their own way--yes, even man's brain or intellect is depraved and is incapable of spiritual apprehension:  "No one understands" (cf. Rom. 3:10f).   "...My people do not understand" (Isaiah 1:3, NASB).   "...So the people without understanding are ruined"  (Hos. 4:14, NASB).  "...The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint"  (Isaiah 1:5, ESV).

Secular Humanism is defined as a religion without God in the equation.  It is completely incompatible with the Judeo-Christian worldview. Humanists do not believe that there is a supernatural and deny any deity or divinity of any notion in their reckoning.  When you take God out of the equation man loses focus and orientation, and has no moral compass to guide him and sees a distorted reality: such as Eastern religion seeing all reality as Maya or an illusion.  Humanism is a religion with high priests, meetings, and even has the Humanist Manifesto of doctrines to adhere to John Dewey was one of the early proponents who introduced the ideas into our educational system and is the so-called father of American public education.  They even have "Secular Humanist of the year" awards!  Their chief tenet is that there is no absolute moral code to live by and we are capable of concocting our own morality.

America is entering the New World Order (or era):  Trump vows to keep God out of it [politics]. Humanists want a world without God and any religious influence--even banning signage of the Ten Commandments in courtrooms and schools, taking the motto "In God We Trust" off our coins, and "One nation under God" off our pledge of allegiance (they have already banned Bible reading and classroom prayer in public schools in 1963, when infamous atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair protested and litigated).  Will we have a National Day of Prayer and a prayer breakfast at the White House? They are opposed to Christianity because they cannot stomach the fact that some people are "lost" and need salvation, and they believe in their Humanist Manifesto II of 1973:  "No deity will save us, we must save ourselves."

Their faith is in science, or should I say "scientism," which is using science for non-scientific purposes such as finding ethical, philosophical, and religious truth (an example is saying that the cosmos is all there is and all there was and all there ever will be--Carl Sagan). They are people of faith too--in the scientific method to solve our problems and lead to all truth.  There are not people of faith and people of reason or rationale, because everyone has faith and starts with some presupposition they cannot prove.  The building block of the "religion" is evolution and they regard any encroachment upon this dogma as heretical and intolerable. For example, Carl Sagan said that evolution is a "fact", not a "theory." Note:  It's unproven and unprovable since history is nonrepeatable, there are no witnesses, they cannot account for the origin of life nor the arrival of the fittest,  and a new species has never been observed to evolve in either the fossil record or in real time.

Humanism is indeed a religion, though they say it is not because they don't believe in "God." But even John Dewey said in A Common Faith that you can be "religious" without having "religion." Atheism has been declared a religion by the Seventh Court of Appeals!   Humanism is more than disbelief in God; it's anti-God and, as a worldview, interprets everything without God in the picture, which is contrary to the rise of Western civilization.  We might call Secular Humanism a post-theological worldview and they are in the process or rewriting history--a red flag!

A fundamental repercussion of their worldview is that God never intervened in history (Jesus is seen as a legend, myth, lie, etc.), and worse yet, man is not created in the image of God with a soul and spirit, but is a materialistic, naturalistic hodgepodge of atoms colliding with no divine purpose--life has no meaning or purpose (words anathema to them), and, since we are animals in heat avoiding pain and seeking pleasure, we can feel free to live without moral restraint, hell to shun, nor judgment to fear, just like animals and feel no "guilt," which comes only from religion. Note:  We are not a freak biological accident or some fluke of nature!  In scientific parlance, they are monists, not believers in dualism like Christians, in that they don't believe we have a mind, separate from our brain, but it's only a projection of brain activity and there is no soul or spirit within us.

The whole point of Secular Humanism is to be good without God and to be religious without the so-called religion! They deify and exalt man and dethrone and ignore God, making a name for the man and blaspheming God's name! Idolatry is not giving God His rightful domain!

So what?  Secular Humanists want Christians in their camp, but they must be willing to privatize their faith, not flaunting it or making it public--keep it in church!  What we are beholding is the secularization of our society where "we have forgotten God" (Will Durant, humanist historian).  The Constitution guarantees the free expression of faith or religion with no State interference or regulation.  Playwright George Bernard Shaw said that "no nation has ever survived the loss of its gods."  Dostoevsky said that without God all things are permissible--this is our future?  Caveat: Secular Humanists pin the blame for our problem on man's preoccupation with the spiritual element and mostly fault Christianity!  Soli Deo Gloria!

Loving The Romanists

People can be sincerely wrong, though sincerity is important, it is not everything.  You can have a sound theology without a sound life, but not a sound life without a sound theology; however, it is more vital to have a heart in tune or in sync with Christ, and in the right place than to be orthodox and impeccably correct in one's doctrines--man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.

Keeping our eyes, focused on the goal, which is to win them over and not be a stumbling block or artificial roadblock, that hinders one's search for the truth will set him free. Our goal should be to build bridges not tear them down. We may even have to pray for an open door. Caveat:  You can be dead right as well as dead wrong!  The only solution is one of mutual respect and love. What follows is my attempt to bridge the gap and put us on the same page.

We all may have Roman Catholic friends (22 percent of America is Roman Catholic) and colleagues that we are in daily or regular contact within our sphere of influence, that God has made us responsible for as a witness.  The key is to meet them where they are and get to know them first. I do not have an ax to grind against the Romanist tradition or feel vengeance to "get even" or "even the score" for the so-called bitter Thirty Years' War between Protestants and Catholics (1618-1638) that practically destroyed Christendom in Western Europe, and ended in a stalemate and an edict of "toleration" and mutual recognition (Treaty of Westphalia). At one point even the Jews and Christians decided to "live and let live," to "agree to disagree," and stop feuding with each other, but to cease fire and seek peace.  We must love others into the kingdom of God!  Jesus said we'd be known by our love!  The Protestant Church wasn't officially recognized by Charles V until the Peace of Augsburg (1577).

Catholicism and Protestantism split subsequent to October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, nailed his Ninety-five Theses on the Castle Church of Wittenberg, and was promptly summoned to the Diet of Worms to recant by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Pope Leo X, who declared him a heretic and excommunicated him.  He escaped by virtue of being kidnapped to Wartburg Castle and proceeded to translate the Bible into German (completed in 1534 and still a work of art in German prose to this day). And so the split in 1521, like that of the Western and Eastern Churches in 1054 to form the Orthodox Church, is almost 500 years in the making.  It was not the Protestants who condemned the Catholics, but vice versa (they were told to recant or be excommunicated).  Luther didn't intend to start a new denomination or church in his name--he only intended to reform, but this is what happened nevertheless.

The motto and spirit of the movement:  I dissent, I disagree, I protest (how we get Protestant). Luther continued the Protestant movement (known as Evangelicals or Lutherans) along with other reformers.  He had held to the Word of God, plain reason, and his conscience as his guide--the former monk and theology professor never recanted, but continued his reforms of Romanism until his death in 1546.

We are no longer at the mercy of church dogma.  Today, many believers in the Protestant faith have even already come full circle by submitting to everything their church says and decrees without question.  Remember the Bereans (cf. Acts 17:11), who were nobler than the Thessalonians who went home and searched these things out that Paul preached, and found out whether they were true. We are all believer-priests in the Christian church and have the Holy Spirit's illuminating ministry and the anointing to understand the Scriptures, and don't need a priest or teacher to tell us everything.

There is a fundamental difference between the way the Catholics and Protestants understand salvation which is called the doctrine of soteriology by theologians:  The former primarily see the instrumental means via the sacraments (viz., baptism and communion) of the Church, and the latter as through faith alone as the instrumental means.  The Catholics deemed the Church as necessary for salvation in Vatican Council II of 1962-1965.  Note that Catholics always refer to their denomination as "the Church" and NOTE:  Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except through Me."(Not through the  church!)  Roman Catholics declared non-Catholics to be "heretics," and that the "Church is necessary for salvation...  For it is through the Church alone...."  This Church likes to pronounce a curse on those that sincerely disagree or beg to differ, they cannot even agree to disagree by decree or council.

Grace is necessary, and faith is necessary, and even Christ is necessary, but not sufficient in Catholicism. They also acknowledge three varieties of merit that are being added to grace (at least congruous merit, but condign merit is obligatory to reward, and supererogatory merit is above and beyond the call of duty, such as martyrdom and can be shared with others to help them.)  They do not believe faith is adequate but works must be added to the faith to make it complete.  While Protestants generally all agree with the formula that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (cf. Ephesians 2:8-9)--which was one of the battle cries of the Reformation. However, the Catholics contradicted Jesus:  In 1891, Pope Leo the Twelfth declared, "No one can approach Christ except through the Mother [the Co-Mediator or Mediatrix and Co-Redeemer]."

Reacting: The Catholics were very upset at the Reformed dogma and summoned the Counter-Reformation and the Council of Trent from 1545-1563 to declare "anathema" or cursed anyone who believes in sola fide or faith alone (because they could not find the phrase "faith alone" in Scripture!). This council further alienated the Church by declaring tradition of equal authority as Scripture, and also that the Apocrypha was to be canonized.  In explanation:  James (cf. James 2:34), said we are justified by works and not by faith alone;  but he was saying that the kind of faith that doesn't produce good works or fruit is not saving faith, and is "dead."  Then the Reformers countered with their definition of saving faith with this formula:  We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.  This may seem like splitting hairs or nitpicking, but it makes you either a Protestant or Catholic by your stand on whether faith alone is adequate to save and consequently whether we have any right to "boast" in God's presence of any merit or work we have done. Faith is regarded as a meritorious work and not a gift, and this is the beginning of merit.   "Faith alone" became the rallying cry of the Reformation.

Now to get to our premise as to how we must love our Catholic friends:  We must not compromise our faith, water down, or domesticate the gospel to make it sound appealing to them, but we must stick to our guns and stand fast in the faith.  "The Lord's servant must not strive..." (2 Tim. 2:24).  We don't go out of our way to condemn them, but if the subject comes up we are to remain faithful to our credo and not try to gain their favor or be "people-pleasers" by sounding less abrasive or offensive to their standards.  Sometimes the truth hurts and convicts, and if we really belong to Christ, we must be willing to take a stand, willing to suffer the consequences of our cross to bear.

For example, in a Bible study, we don't go out of our way to point out the differences of doctrine, but if the subject comes up we are to tell it like it is in a loving way, and not waver or cower in our stand--there comes a time when we must and take our stand for Jesus--we must make it clear that it is not just our opinion, but that we can show from Scripture why we believe what we do; as another of the Reformer's mottoes was, sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), we must appeal alone to divine Scripture as our authority--not the Supreme Pontiff or the Pope, tradition, the Church, or even ourselves.

Most of all, we must realize that the best witness is a loving testimony that shows we aren't just trying to argue them into the kingdom (we can never argue someone into the faith), but we must wait for the open door that we have prayed for and take the cue to witness when called for, and do so humbly and honestly from the heart.  If they realize you really love them that is the best witness, not how brilliant we are. They don't care how much you know, till they realize how much you care.  The best way to love them is to tell them the truth and not live a lie or deny the truth.  By all means, never condemn them, nor tell them bluntly that they are not Christians, but let God do the convicting--John 16:8 says this is the Holy Spirit's domain.  We can never convert someone--only God can accomplish this task!

Note that I am not saying that you cannot be saved if you're a Catholic (I believe Mother Teresa of Calcutta is doubtless one of the closest saints to the Father), but some are saved despite their church dogma and not because of it (faith in the Catholic tradition means agreement or acquiescence with Church dogma or the official teachings of the Church per se). God has his "angels" in every church as a witness and testimony if people are looking for Him. Like Paul said to the Philippians:  "I want to know Christ ... [it is not our theory of soteriology that saves us, but Christ]."  It is the object (Christ) of faith that saves, not faith itself.  Feelings don't impress God, faith does (cf. Heb. 11:6).!


In conclusion:   A word to the wise is sufficient. There is such a thing as "dead orthodoxy" or having a well-thought-out theology and no spiritual life to match! The Pietists arose during the Reformation to neutralize this same situation.  You can be orthodox in your creed and not be saved, and wrong in your doctrine and be saved, because salvation is a relationship (knowing and believing in Christ) not a creed per se.  Creeds change over time as the church is semper reformanda or Latin for "always reforming" according to the Reformers; however, Christ never changes, and is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Let us learn to love Him more dearly, follow Him more nearly, and know Him more clearly!

The Gibraltar Of Christianity

"To them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God"  (Acts 1:3, ESV).
"Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers a one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep"  (1 Cor. 15:6, ESV).  

This is apologetic for the resurrection of Christ and is included with worldview posts because acceptance or rejection affects one's interpretation of history, and whether he believes God intervenes in it or plays an active part (as Deists deny).   God is no spectator or passive observer of humanity.  A so-called uniformitarian view holds that God if there is one, doesn't intervene in human affairs, nor cause any cataclysmic events.   As Ben Franklin said, "I have lived a long time and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see that God governs in the affairs of men."  Believing in a supernatural God, and that with God nothing is impossible, settles the issue, for this is merely child's play for the almighty Creator of the universe and the one who holds all things together in His hands.

One's approach to interpreting history is affected because his philosophy biases him for or against the supernatural and how we can "know" historical events and verify them to our satisfaction.  It is not the denial of the miracle of the resurrection that is at stake, but the whole concept of their existence and possibility.  Denying the fact of miracles leads to the ultimate conclusion that there is no God, which cannot be proved (logicians know you cannot prove a universal negative!).

"To them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God"  (Acts 1:3, ESV).
"Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers a one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep"  (1 Cor. 15:6, ESV).

This is an apologetic for the resurrection of Christ and is included with worldview posts because acceptance or rejection affects one's interpretation of history, and whether he believes God intervenes in it or plays an active part (as Deists deny).  A so-called uniformitarian view holds that God if there is one, doesn't intervene in human affairs, nor cause any cataclysmic events.   As Ben Franklin said, "I have lived a long time and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see that God governs in the affairs of men."  Believing in a supernatural God, and that with God nothing is impossible, settles the issue, for this is merely child's play for the almighty creator of the universe and the one who holds all things together in His hands.

One's approach to interpreting history is affected because his philosophy biases him for or against the supernatural and how we can "know" historical events and verify them to our satisfaction.  It is not the denial of the miracle of the resurrection that is at stake, but the whole concept of their existence and possibility.  Denying the fact of miracles leads to the ultimate conclusion that there is no God, which cannot be proved (logicians know you cannot prove a universal negative!).

The crux of the Christian faith is its dependence on the resurrection of Christ to be the foundation and inception.  You must accept this fact or the whole faith is disemboweled.  The resurrection is the final proof that Christ's sacrifice was accepted, that there is a heaven to hope for and that Christ is the one and only Son of God.  This is the most crucial and vital fact of history--the most astonishing and fantastic fact, or it is the biggest and cruelest hoax ever perpetrated on mankind, according to Josh McDowell.  There is no middle ground; it is not a legend since there was not the time for it to develop until the gospels were written (probably before AD 70).  The historicity of Christ is beyond dispute by any reputable modern historian because it is vouched for by many secular forces as well as the internal testimony of the Word.

How do we know this as historical fact, though?  History, by its very nature, cannot be proved in a scientific manner (it's out of the realm of science because it's nonrepeatable).  How do we know that Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth?  There are no witnesses alive today to verify it, but we do have documentation that is credible, and trustworthy.  We must assess the veracity of the records and the dependability of the eye-witnesses--consummate, inveterate liars, and lunatics or madmen are not reliable witnesses, no matter the number.

However, in the case of Scripture, we have four noblemen who lived in the times of skepticism and persecution for their faith, and they have the character that one could believe. We can believe the records written because they give no evidence of rantings and ravings of madmen.  Simon Greenleaf, a prof at Harvard, and one of the world's foremost authorities on legal evidence became a believer in Christ by examining the evidence and announced that, if an unbiased jury were to hear it, they would proclaim the resurrection as historical fact.  There certainly isn't a lack of evidence to support it, one must have preconceived ideas or prejudices to deny it.  The heart of the matter is that it's a matter of the heart, and people feign intellectual problems as smokescreens to hide their moral rebellion and unwillingness to do God's will.

There is no way you can disprove it:  The opposite of the resurrection is not that people don't rise from the dead, but that God cannot raise the dead, specifically, that He cannot rise from the dead Himself.  All science can say is that people don't normally rise from the dead, all things being equal. There is no law that says so, it has just been observed that men normally die and conclusions were drawn.

Jesus predicted His resurrection and there is plenty of circumstantial evidence to verify it: The appearances of Christ to doubting apostles, who had to be convinced against their better judgment (Thomas said he wouldn't believe unless he could put his hand in Christ's side) and they had become disillusioned, reverting to their former way of life, such as fishing; the many eyewitnesses that were alive when the gospels were written that could've dispelled the belief--it would be like someone saying that FDR claimed to be the Son of God today; one famous lawyer (Frank Morrison) asked the pivotal question, who moved the stone--it was guarded and heavy; one must account for the empty tomb and everyone knew where it was and could've checked it out; how do you explain the rise of the church that taught the resurrection, the martyrdom of thousands for the faith, when all they had to do to save their hide was deny this fact; the day of worship was changed from the Sabbath day to the Lord's day (and Jews practically had a fetish about this command); the grave clothes were undisturbed and this made an instant believer out of John, showing supernatural exit; and most convincing is the dramatic change in the lives of the apostles, going from timid and frightened to roaring lions for the faith.

The only way to dismantle Christianity is to disprove this historical fact and this has never been done, and cannot be done--it would raise more issues and questions than it solved--there's no legitimate evidence against it; only a preconceived notion that it's untrue brings doubt.

Note that the burden of proof falls on the party making the challenge that a document is not authentic or bogus (Socrates' dictum):  Every document apparently ancient, coming from the proper repository or custody, and bearing on its face no evident marks of forgery, the law presumes to be genuine and devolves on the opposing party the burden of proving it to be otherwise"  (Professor, an expert on law and evidence, Simon Greenleaf of Harvard).  He also states:  "[That] the competence of the New Testament documents would be established in a y court of law." 

All the above are compelling, circumstantial evidence, and this kind of evidence is admissible in a court of law; however, no evidence can be conclusive in itself, but one must weigh it and go with the preponderance of the evidence--all the popular theories about how Christ didn't rise from the dead have been refuted and aren't believed seriously anymore by scholars (like that the disciples merely stole the body, and no one should believe the testimony of guards while they were asleep--this is not admissible evidence, and this tale circulated and the Jews believed it).

What is so compelling about the evidence and makes the gospel writers so credible?  They were willing to die for it and were in a position to know whether it was true--unlike radical Muslims dying for what they think is true--and people will gladly die for what they believe, but not for a known lie.  Finally, the integrity of the Scriptures is well-established and its reliability, authenticity, and faithful reproduction with utmost fidelity leaves no doubt that they have survived without being corrupted, as Islam claims.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Blind Faith...

 "...' You foolish people!  You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures" (Luke 24:25, NLT).
"...' O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!'"  (Ibid., NKJV).
"Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge..." (Isaiah 5:13, ESV).
"...and a people without understanding shall come to ruin" (Hosea 4:14, ESV).
"...There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land" (Hos. 4:1, ESV).
"For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings"  (Hosea 6:6, ESV).
"Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD..." (Hosea 6:3, ESV).
"I don't have enough faith to be an atheist."--Norman L. Geisler, noted biblical scholar

Note: Not knowing what you believe is a kind of unbelief or blind faith. 

Christians have sound reasons to have faith in Christ:  circumstantial evidence that is most compelling and unexplainable otherwise;  the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, especially through the Word of God (its inspiration, transmission, and canonicity); the objective, cumulative, historical evidence of the resurrection; plus the subjective experience ("Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good..." cf. Psalm 34:8, NKJV) and value of knowing Christ personally ("[N]ow that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness" cf. 1 Peter 2:3, NLT).

Christianity is the only faith that is based on fact, not a fable, fiction, myth, old wives' tales, legend, or tall tale--if it's not a historical religion, it's nothing at all.  The historical evidence is further validated by the veracity of the witnesses, who were willing to go to their deaths for their faith. One usually tells the truth on one's deathbed.  It's not a matter of whether you believe the resurrection was possible, but are the historical records reliable, credible, dependable, and accurate?

The difference between them dying for their faith and other martyrs of different faiths is that they were in the position to know whether it was true.  Any faith not based on evidence is blind faith--even an atheist who doesn't know why he's one or has no evidence has blind faith.  It's not a battle or challenge between faith and reason, but which set of presuppositions one begins with and is willing to accept as true--secularists bet the farm on science being the only reliable source of truth.  Secularists are people of faith too!   If you say that you only believe what can be proved by the scientific method or empiricism, you must first begin by proving the validity of that premise.

Epistemological humility comes in to play where one admits he doesn't have a monopoly on the truth or know everything and is therefore teachable. In the final analysis, no preacher has cornered the market on truth and can speak ex-cathedra or pontificate.  Socrates said that to begin learning you must admit your ignorance!  Education is merely going from an unconscious to a conscious awareness of your ignorance.  Everyone must admit that they could be wrong--no one is infallible. 

Christians today are inclined to believe that their faith is indefensible, and don't know how to defend their faith or even know what they believe and should defend.  We must not let secularists win by default or by concession--we must stand our ground and declare our colors!  What is negotiable and what isn't?  We have sound reasons to believe; God doesn't expect us to believe despite the evidence.  God will reveal the truth to anyone who is willing to do His will (cf. John 7:17) and has an open mind, willing spirit, and needy heart.  God doesn't expect us to believe contrary to reason, but will manifest Himself to us if we search for Him--He is no man's debtor.

Faith is a gift but we must exercise it.  The problem is when we become lax in the faith or our faith is dead, we can do nothing (John 15:5 says, "For apart from Me you can do nothing"), that faith doesn't save; only a living and growing faith that produces fruit can save--no fruit, no faith, no salvation.  Saving faith is not a leap in the dark, but a step into the light--God asks no one to commit intellectual suicide and believe for the sake of believing alone (faith doesn't save, nor faith in faith, but only faith in Christ as the object saves).  Faith feeds on facts and experience, while Paul said in Romans 10:17, NKJV, concerning that precious faith:  "So then faith comes by hearing, and by hearing [i.e., preaching] by the word of God."  We must mature in the faith and have childlike, not childish faith; simple, but not simplistic!

Christians can have strong faith, but if they aren't able to defend it or have a reason for their faith, it's blind faith and may succumb to the devil's Anfectung or attack.  It's not how much faith, but the object of the faith that's vital-you can be sincerely wrong, though sincerity is a requisite.  We are always to be ready to have a reason for our hope (cf. 1 Peter 3:15).   In the study of apologetics, one will realize that Christians haven't kissed their brains goodbye, and that faith is rational, though Christianity isn't rationalism.  God had a rationale for sending His Son and the gospel is about realizing that work of grace is done on our behalf.

In sum, the heart of the matter is that it's a matter of the heart; there's never enough evidence to convince the hardened skeptic, but there's ample evidence for the willing. Christians cannot argue someone into the kingdom!   But they should be able to have an answer as to why they believe (cf. 2 Tim. 2:15).  The problem is that some people catch their beliefs like one catches a cold: hanging around the right people and letting osmosis do its work.  Also, you don't have to be able to defend your faith to have one! However, you cannot rationalize God or put Him in a test tube or under laboratory conditions, because the existence of God is not in the scientific domain-- it takes faith and faith is what pleases God; skeptics are rarely convinced by debate--a work of grace must woo their hearts toward God.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Being Part Of The Answer

"My times are in your hand..." (Psalm 31:15, ESV).
"My future is in your hands..." (Ibid., NLT).
"The course of my life is in Your power..." (Ibid., HCSB).
" ...Now I will rescue you and make you both a symbol and a source of blessing..." (Zech. 8:13,   NLT). 
"...So I shall save you and you shall be a blessing..." (Ibid., NKJV). 
"I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt..." (Gen. 12:3, NLT). 

Some people are part of the problem or a detriment to others (prodigal, as in the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15, means being wasteful or lost), while others are a blessing and asset to have as a company, or being part of the solution!  I'm not necessarily talking about being the life of the party, but about being a conduit or channel of God's grace and blessings. We all have gifts given as the Holy Spirit wills (cf. 1 Cor. 12:11,18) and are responsible for their faithful stewardship.  

I'm talking about any type of resource:  time; money; talent; spiritual gifts; property and possessions; real estate; opportunity; friendships; relationships; business associates and colleagues; education or training; knowledge, wisdom, and understanding from God, ad infinitum. In God's eyes were all richly endowed and once we've experienced it we want to pass it on!  Be the one to make a difference! Stand up and be counted, don't sit on the sidelines, instead, fly your Christian colors!

God only blesses us in order to be a blessing to others, not just to hoard for ourselves: a pastor is given discernment and insight into the Word to give a message to enlighten the flock, not just for his own edification.  All of us are blessed by God: some in all ways, but all in some ways (cf. Psalm 145:9)--God even blesses and prospers the wicked.  If we are successful, we owe it to God, it's not our own doing (cf. Isa. 30:18; Psalm 84:11).  Deut. 8:17-18 says plainly, "He did all this so you would never say to yourself, 'I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.'  Remember the LORD your God, He is the one who gives you the power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant..." (NLT).  Isaiah 48:17, ESV, says, "..'I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.'"  The trouble with most people is that they give themselves credit for success and blame God for failure (cf. Prov. 19:3, NLT, says, "People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD.").

We are not called to be a burden on society (everyone can pay back something from his blessings), but to find meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in contributing our share of the pie that God has given us--the cards dealt us in the form of provision or blessings.  If a person has a lot of time on his hands, for instance, though he is poor, may find fulfillment in making use of it for the Lord (redeeming the time) and investing it in others.  Seize the moment!   We can do only a few things with time, and God allows all of us our fair share, and they include:  wasting it; making it; investing it; and spending it.  In one sense we are all living on borrowed time! So spend it on something that will outlast you!  Prayer, for example, is never a waste of time, but an investment with immediate and long-term dividends and payoffs.

When we make use of the gifts God does give us, He grants more accordingly.  If you pass on insights God gives you, you will receive more!  Faithful use of time grants more time also to use for God.  Be a time manager!  After all, the end result of our blessings should be to use them to invest in the kingdom of God.  God blesses us financially so we can be financial support to those in need, to remember the poor, not to live lavishly or luxuriously.  If you have a musical talent that is untapped, get with it, and invest it in the service of God!  Using your spiritual gift faithfully will bring more opportunities and blessings.  Some people have opportunities to witness to people of influence or the rich and famous, and God may honor them with fruit that can be a blessing to the church at large.

Zech. 8:13 says that God will save us in order that we can be a blessing!  God has His glory in mind when we get saved and sees how to plant us for a harvest--so bloom where you are planted!  Some people may wonder why God saved them; they may be the only ones that can reach a certain niche or group that relates to them.  God may save a nurse to be a light to doctors!  God may save a professor to be a light to his students!  J. R. R. Tolkien was saved so he could bring his colleague, C. S. Lewis, to the Lord, who was a skeptic like Tolkien used to be, and they could relate to each other.

It is important for our mindset to realize that we are mere stewards of God's blessings (but this only makes sense to the faithful), and everything ultimately belongs to Him.  This life is but a staging area to see how we handle God's grace and provision.  It is also vital to realize that when we are faithful in our stewardship, we honor and bless God!  According to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the "chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."  Isaiah 49:3, ESV, promises, "...' You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.'"  We are all created for His glory in Isaiah 43:7, ESV:  "[E]veryone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."

Bringing blessing to God is more than lip service, going through the motions, uttering empty phrases or vain repetitions, or mouthing the words, but living it out: the faith you have is the faith you show; our lives are to bring glory to God by being worthy of our Lord and our calling--showing faithfulness cannot be divorced from faith.     Soli Deo Gloria!

Man: One Of A Kind!

"Where is the one who makes us smarter than the animals..?" (Job 35:11, NLT).
"Do you think we are mere animals?  Do you think we are stupid?"  (Job 18:3, NLT).
"There is something about the way God is that is like the way we are."--J. P. Moreland, Scott Rae

It is vital to know that mankind is not some grown-up ape or descended from any species of the animal kingdom; he's the climax of creation and the special creation of God, in His image or imago Dei, i.e., he has a spirit, soul, mind, heart, and will to know God.   Mankind is the magnum opus of God's creation--His ultimate expression and woman is the finishing touch!  What makes us so unique though? Our DNA is actually closer to pigs though!   There are similarities with the apes on a superficial level, but most evolutionists are inclined to believe we're apes or animals because they don't want to be responsible and want to act like animals with no accountability (cf. Psalm 10:4).

Animals communicate on a limited level, but mankind knows that he communicates; e.g., dogs bark, but don't bark about barking; i.e., they don't argue, have conversations, or communicate with their barking!  We learn through dialogue.  Animals may be conscious, but we're self-conscious!  We alone have a developed language and are intelligent beings with the ability to reason.   We increase our knowledge and pass it on to the next generation; we don't start from scratch with each generation but have a legacy.  Mankind alone is conscious of God and has the volition to obey God, the heart to love God, and the intellect to know God--to communicate with God.  Animals are oblivious to God's presence and have no appreciation nor awareness of Him, while mankind has eternity in his heart and feels the tug towards God, and a yearning to know Him and have a relationship.

Mankind alone has meaning, purpose, dignity, and fulfillment in life beyond himself or his kin.  He lives for something bigger than himself, and something that will outlast him. Most live in light of eternity not for the here and now.   All the senses of mankind, hearing, taste, tactile, vision, olfactory, and even balance are at a much higher level of awareness than that of the animals.  We know that we taste, smell, see, hear, etc. We alone see all the colors and appreciate art that uses them.  We appreciate good tasting food with discrimination and are creative in our cooking beyond what is instinct, we appreciate with our vision fine art and beauty, we fall in and out of love, we have a love for music, we have a sense of humor, and the ability to laugh, we love to have conversations and dialogue, and we love to smell fine aromas and scents.

We know that we have these senses and can communicate about them and appreciate them with pleasure animals don't know.  For instance, we see all the colors and animals don't!  God made us so that we would see beauty and things from His perspective, appreciating the beauty!  We are highly discriminating in our tastes and know it.  Mankind also has the unique ability to fall in love and to stay in love, and even to fall out of love, romantic love is unique, even though some animals have a courtship, they aren't creative, but go by instinct.  It is said that elephants mourn their dead and eagles mate for life as similarities, but we know we do and get closure, resolution, meaning, or satisfaction!

Mankind is no animal!  God placed us as stewards of the earth and to rule over it and subdue it with responsibility  We are at the top of the food chain!  Mankind alone has a sense of time and a consciousness of past and present, but this is to his detriment when misused:  he tends to worry about the future and regret the past and anticipate the future while living in the past!  Animals clearly live for the here and now!  Mankind alone plans for the future, and not just storing nuts for the winter!  Indeed, man is so creative that God said that if He let us be, we could do anything (referring to the tower of Babel). Have you ever observed an animal building a chapel?

The reason we are in the image of God is so that we can communicate with God and relate to Him; there's something about us that God is like--everything a person is, except sin and evil, God is! God is more and not less than we are and our Creator, so he knows our needs and desires.  In fact, God is able to satisfy the desires of all creatures, and as creatures, and we have the inherent duty to obey God, whether rewarded or not.  Animals have no choice to obey God as creatures, but God gave us the choice to choose Him and to obey Him willingly, not of coercion from some outside force.

In the image of God, we are spiritual, rational, emotional, humorous, musical, communicative, and moral beings (according to scholar Mark Fackler). Mankind senses the moral code or compass of God, and has a conscience to guide behavior, knowing fair play, decency, good faith, unselfishness, justice, good works in progress, whereby we become conformed to His image from glory to glory.   Being in the image of God, we were made to know God (cf. John 17:3) and there is no greater thrill than sportsmanship, altruism, courage, bravery, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, fair play, straightforwardness, and all known fifty-two known virtues, (all biblical) that are from our image of God.  We have this image so we can bring praise to God in a meaningful relationship and enjoy Him to the max forever.   We alone are created for God's glory (cf. Isa. 43:7).  We wonder at the image of Christ becoming manifest in our lives as God finding us.  Per contra, animals don't build cathedrals!

God has searched us and knows us (cf. Psalm 139:1).  "He made [our] hearts, so he understands everything [we] do"  (Psalm 33:15, NLT).  We not only know God, but He knows us (cf. Gal. 4:9).  Not only do we relate to God, but He also relates to us and since Jesus became a man in the incarnation, God feels our pain and is in a position to understand us and what we go through (would you worship a God who knew nothing of pain and suffering?).  We are to find out about the Lord's goodness on our own ("Taste and see that the LORD is good..." cf. Psalm 34:8).  We wouldn't know what crooked was, unless we had an understanding of what straight is!   Soli Deo Gloria!