Of Give-And-Take

"But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this?  For everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your own hand" (2 Chron. 29:14, HCSB).  
"... Freely you have received, freely give" (Matt. 10:8, NKJV).
"...' I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go'" (Isaiah 48:17, NKJV).
"And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth..." (Deut. 8:18, NKJV).  
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt. 6:21, NIV).

We are all recipients of a multitude of blessings, even unawares, and owe it all to our Lord, who has freely given us all things to be used for His glory and are really just loaned to us--we must be good stewards of them.  "THE earth is the LORD'S and the fullness thereof;.." says Psalm 24:1, KJV.  Yes, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills says Psalm 50:10.  We are not to become materialists thinking that our life consists in the abundance of our possessions.  Actually, the less we own the more we realize what God has blessed us with.  A. W. (Aiden Wilson) Tozer wrote a germane book on the subject called The Pursuit of God, and one chapter is called "The  Blessedness of Possessing Nothing." Abraham had to come to the point of giving up Isaac before he could possess him.  Christians likewise have nothing, yet possess all, as Paul says.   Some people have to be stripped of their paraphernalia and personal belongings before they realize it all belongs to God, and we must be thankful--even for small things.

Concerning the things of the world, and we ought not to love the things of the world, we should echo Paul, who said that none of these things move him (cf. Acts 20:24).  We are all rich!  Real riches consist in the abundance of our blessings of all manner, not just our material possessions; actually, riches are better measured by the fewness of our wants, not the abundance of our material goods--the man who dies with the most toys doesn't win, but he missed the boat!  The idea is to get focused and to realize what God wants to bless you with and go for it from there.  The person who covets everything cannot find happiness in belongings, and we ought to be possessors of our possessions, and not let them control us as slaves.  Money is a cruel taskmaster, for people who have a lot of it still want more, and you cannot serve God and mammon, according to our Lord.  Just ask a millionaire how much money would make him happy and content; he'll tell you that it's just a little more!  Paul urges us to be content with what we have and learn to be thankful in all circumstances. 

God does promise to take care of our physical needs but not necessarily our felt needs or wants; however, some people are twice blessed because God blesses all in some ways and is good to all according to Psalm 145:9.  Jesus did indeed say that it's more blessed to give than to receive (cf. Acts 20:35), and people who realize this are fulfilled givers, and grace-giving is done sacrificially and with purpose and faithfulness.  Paul added that God loves a cheerful giver in 2 Cor. 9:7.  If we give out of the wrong spirit, it cannot be blessed, knowing even that it's not the amount per se, but the motive and faith, knowing that God multiplies the gift exponentially and uses it for His work.  It is indeed a privilege and pleasure to know that we can contribute to God's work in the kingdom.  In God's economy, it is in giving that we receive!

God blesses us in like manner as we bless others, so be sure not to cheat God!   God gives freely to us and we are to freely give in return, and this is the grace of giving and taking--sometimes it can be humbling to receive as well, but it's always an honor to be the giver, for God is the Giver of all blessings (cf. James 1:17), for God "gives generously to all without finding fault" (cf. James 1:5, NIV), and He has no hands to give other than ours.

We are never to look down on the less fortunate or those "down on their luck" as they say; for God is the maker of the poor as well as the rich, and to despise the poor is to insult God.  The wisest people are those who have experienced hardship and have roots not too be envied, and come from humble backgrounds.  These people hopefully will never forget that God is the one who makes one rich (cf. Deut. 8:18).  God teaches us to profit and shows us the way, when we are blessed (cf. Isaiah 48:17, NKJV).  Always aware that prosperity isn't a sure sign of God's favor.  When one is rich it doesn't mean he can waste money or show no respect for it, but must always remember the value of a dollar.

I do not believe in prosperity theology, or that we must cash in our spiritual lottery ticket after salvation, and God will always prosper His children in a material way.  But whatever task we are called to do, He will bless and make sure we have the means to do it and we will be successful in that venture in His name.   Money is only one measure of prosperity or success, and shouldn't be the litmus test of a person's faith or walk with God. If you love money, you'll never have enough.   Because he who is faithful in little, will be faithful in much, and to whom much is given, much is expected, as Jesus said.  In God's economy, it is the poor who are rich in faith (cf. James 2:5), because wealth can be anesthetizing and bring on more angst about financial woes, exigencies, or expectancies--since wealth makes one tend to feel independent of God and even oblivious.  Wealth per se doesn't bring happiness, for you can have everything to live on, and nothing to live for!  We must not strive to become rich, but let God bless us in our service to Him--do that in life that you feel you can best serve God faithfully, not that which brings in the most income. 

Paul did learn the lesson of being content both in need and in plenty!  God wants to bless us but sometimes our hands are already full of the world's goods, and we have no place for His provision and abundance.  God is good to all in some ways, and to some in all ways, but no one can say God is not good or that they haven't been blessed.  Give what you are blessed with, for instance, some people have time to spare and can volunteer or donate time as a commodity or venture for God's work.  We are never happier than when we are doing God's work with a smile. 

One of God's attributes is His generosity, and we are to mimic that and become channels or conduits of His blessings and provision.  We are to render to God that which is God's, according to Jesus, and this doesn't mean that only spiritual things belong to Him, but everything is His and we have it on loan as stewards who will be evaluated for our faithfulness when we are called to account and evaluated.  The greatest gifts are God's Son, His Word in the form of the Scriptures, the Comforter, and of course, eternal life:  we are to appropriate these as blessings and pass them on. 

God gives us more insights when we pass on those given to us because this is good stewardship of the mysteries of God.  Remember the principle:  Give and it shall be given to you!  This is the key to opening up the doors of heaven's bounty. It's best to be focused on the spiritual (cf. Col. 3:1) because we ought not to lay up treasures on earth, for where our treasure is, our heart will be also (cf. Matt. 6:19-20).  We don't want to become slaves to materialism and equate happiness with it, for our joy should be in the Lord and doing His will--as it is written:  "Rejoice in the Lord."  

The chief virtue of receiving God's bounty is to give thanks! It's a reward in itself, bearing the gift of God.   It is important to know that the Lord doesn't give like the world gives (cf. John 14:27), for "the gifts [referring to spiritual gifts] and callings of God are without repentance," according to Rom. 11:29.  Job noted that the Lord gives and takes away (cf. Job 1:21), "...[S]hall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2:10, ESV), but God is no man's debtor and His tests and pruning are for our good.  Paul noted in 1 Tim. 6:17, NKJV, that "[God] gives us richly all things to enjoy," including "our daily bread." 

Paul exhorts us who give in Rom. 12:8, NKJV, to give "with liberality."  I would be remiss not to mention the main thing:  To give of ourselves to the Lord; for we are God's and His desire is for us.  There is a direct correlation between the two:  receiving with thanksgiving puts us in the spirit to give as unto the Lord and to give gracefully because we know what Thanksgiving is from experience and want to pass it on--grateful people are those inspired to become givers and a blessing to others.  If you are not thankful, try the grace of giving and receiving thanks, till you feel compelled to give and become grace-oriented, and if you are thankful, express it in giving too--you'll find a grateful heart and the gift of giving as the result.  And in conclusion focus on this:  Ask and it shall be given unto thee," so also on the flip side "give to him that asks" in return.  (Cf. Matt. 5:42).  

Only Christianity shows us how much God loves and it's sacrificial, costing Him His Son; we too can show our love sacrificially, for we can give without love, but not love without giving, says Rick Warren.  Fellowship is mutuality, which is defined as the art of give-and-take!  Soli Deo Gloria!

Are We Too Bad For Salvation?

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9, NIV).
"All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away" (Isa. 64:6, NIV).
"'Come now, let us settle the matter,' says the LORD. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool'" (Isaiah 1:18, NIV).
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9, KJV).
"I see better things and I approve them but I follow the worst."--Ovid

We are prone to play the "let's compare" (cf. 2 Cor. 10:12) game and suit ourselves by looking down on our fellow man as our inferior who doesn't measure up. As long as we can find someone worse than us we feel secure in our "holiness" or inherent goodness. After all, many of us believe God grades on a curve! Compared to the likes of Adolf Hitler, the paradigm of evil incarnate, we appear to be saints and godly enough to feel smug and self-satisfied in our goodness. But our goodness is from God and not our gift to Him, but His gift to us. Our goodness doesn't benefit God, but we are mere vessels being used for His greater good and glory, whether of honor or dishonor, we are manipulated and used by God's providence. This is a never-ending comparison and relativity since there's always someone we can thumb our nose at, no matter how wicked we are--even in the prisons there are self-righteous bullies who think they are the moral center of the place. We are all in jail, in a sense, but do not realize our depravity and need of a way out and salvation through a Savior. We cannot set ourselves free, and we weren't born free, but in bondage and slavery and can only be unbound by the power of the cross. "... Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more" (Rom. 5:21, NKJV). John Bunyan wrote Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners to expound on this motif.

How bad are we? Metaphorically, we are as far from God as a blind person comprehending the beauty of nature and hearing a symphony, if one is deaf. God is in another dimension and we are God-conscious and feel a tug to know He's there by instinct. No one has an excuse not to believe in Him and God's knowledge is plain to all. We must realize how bad we are to be good, according to C. S. Lewis, and we don't realize how bad we are till aim to be good. It's like thinking you can quit tobacco anytime, but when you try to quit you can't because it's got more power over you than you realized. We don't have the freedom of will to cease sin on our own, but are slaves to our sin nature and need to be set free by the Son (cf. John 8:36).

According to the doctrine of total depravity, we are as bad off as we can possibly be: every part of our nature is corrupt and affected adversely by evil and sin, including our emotions, mind, will, and body--all that we are. As far as our will goes, we are stubborn and hard as a stone, and God must turn our hearts into ones of flesh (cf. Ezek. 36:26). We don't think clearly because of sin and are blinded by Satan to the truth of the gospel. Our emotions are attuned to the lower nature and have lost their purity. Our bodies are dying and do not bring glory to God either apart from grace, no matter how well we treat them. In sum, we are bad, according to D. L. Moody, but not too bad to be saved! We all have feet of clay; we all are a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde--we all have a dark side no one sees.

The qualification for receiving eternal life is to realize you can't qualify! "Therefore I abhor myself And repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6, NKJV). We can't earn our salvation, we cannot pay it back, and we don't deserve it either. We cannot rationalize our way back to God by philosophizing or thinking; we cannot moralize our way back by good deeds, and cannot emotionalize our way back by our feelings. We must be sincere, but sincerity is not the whole equation, we must be willing to do God's will and repent of our sin, renouncing and denouncing it, in order to follow Christ in obedience and trust. God has reckoned all to be dead in sin so that He can have mercy by grace on us all. We don't get saved because of our intelligence, morality, emotions, wisdom, or even philosophy--or any accompanying affiliation or party membership. We must not deify a person, group, or even party, for this is idolatry.

We must echo the wise words of William Jay of Bath, who said that he is a great sinner, but he has a great Savior. It is only in realizing that we are sinners and are spiritually bankrupt before God that we can value Jesus as our Savior. The closer we get to God, the more we become aware of our shortcomings and sins. Samuel Rutherford said to pray for a lively sense of sin because, the more sense of sin the less sin. Remember the words of George Whitefield: "There but for the grace of God, go I"; which he uttered upon seeing a man going to the gallows. Paul said in 1 Cor. 15:10 likewise: "I am what I am by the grace of God."

This is the point, just because someone seems like a worse sinner than you are, doesn't necessitate him being further from finding God; sometimes the prostitutes and tax collectors are closer to God than the Pharisees of the world. Just because your sins may be more civilized, polite, concealed, or refined doesn't make them less serious: better off the ignorant cannibal in the South Seas than the informed bully on Wall Street! The Greek admonition to know thyself goes hand in hand with knowing God. Why do you think the Law was given? To convince you that you cannot keep it and need a Savior! The Bible tells it like it is; how we are and how God is and how to restore the relationship. Once you've seen your nature for what it is, you'll realize it's not a pretty picture. The closer we get to the Spirit's illumination, the clearer becomes our blemishes.

Note that depravity is not what the world espouses: Secular Humanism postulates the inherent goodness of man and that he can be good without God! All goodness comes from the Source of all Goodness, God, and the definition of evil and temptation of Eve is how to be good without God in the equation, noting that evil is a parasite on good and distorts or perverts it; to find our own values, virtues, wisdom, and enjoyment without God in the picture. Humanism originates from the Greek philosopher Protagoras who said that "man is the measure of all things" ("Homo mensura"); thus exalting and deifying man, and dethroning God as irrelevant and even nonexistent--up with man; down with God, the credo. Their aim is to make a name for themselves and live for this world and life only, thus taking away the motive for reconciling with God. Their conclusion is that no deity will save them and so they must save themselves (cf. Humanist Manifesto II, 1973). Thus, the issue is whether one chooses to believe in himself, or in God for salvation.

Psychiatrists are starting to refer to "sin" again, according to Karl Menninger, MD (who penned Whatever Became of Sin?), and this means he knows right and wrong and is culpable unto Judgment Day. It only takes one sin to make a man a sinner, as violating one part of the Law is an infringement on the whole of it. We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners (as theologians say). Martin Luther said that man doesn't see his sin, and it's our job to inform him. When Paul said that "all have sinned," he was putting us all in the same boat, with no grading on the curve--we all have been put under the scrutiny of God and found wanting. Caveat: "... Your sins have been your downfall" (Hosea 14:1, NIV); "...[S]in lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it" (Gen. 4:7, NKJV).

The worst sinners are those who are confident in their personal righteousness and see no sin; the self-righteous, goody-two-shoes sinners of the world. It is vital to realize our sinfulness because it implies our responsibility and helplessness before God and smashes our sense of self-righteousness and shows our rebellion. Many must first realize they're lost and need salvation as a requisite for getting saved from sin. Trusting in your own intrinsic goodness leads to death, for God is the moral center of the universe and the final Judge will meet one-on-one with everyone to give an account of themselves. In sum, let me emphasize that it's not that we are good enough to get saved, but bad enough to need salvation. There's hope for everyone. DON'T WRITE ANYONE OFF AS TOO FAR GONE! Soli Deo Gloria!

The Postmodern Theological Threat

"Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?"  (1 Cor. 14:8, HCSB).
"...[I]n the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth"  (1 Tim. 3:15, NKJV).


Postmodernism has not only infiltrated ("crept in unawares") our institutions of higher learning among elitist types but now clerics are being infected with its heresies.  Their goal is to completely revamp, retool, and rework the church with their distorted concept of "truth."  Postmodern Christianity, aka the "post-conservative" or the "Emerging Church movement," is gaining converts--if you can call them that.  This avant-garde wave of pseudo-evangelism is not so much against churches per se, as against the authority of churches, and especially the established Church, especially Romanism. They firmly believe in keeping faith privatized as much as possible--the jury is still out on whether they are truly evangelical and spread the Word, or if they are just leaches and proselytizers on other existing churches and believers.

This philosophy insists truth is relative, incommunicable, unknowable, subjective, and certainly not universal or absolute.  They extend this to theology in saying that no pastor can be certain of his teachings and rightly present them as dogma or in a dogmatic way, but must leave room for disagreement and personal interpretation. They must admit they could be wrong; it's just true for them, and that's just their interpretation!

Typical Postmodern inquires:  Why not sing ballads from The Beatles, such as "All You Need Is Love?"  Why does the pastor get to preach and the churchgoers don't?  Shouldn't church be democratic and not exclusive, but as inclusive as possible, open to all faiths?  Isn't all truth relative?   What does this passage mean to you, as opposed to what is meant?  (When you do surgery to the Bible's text and eliminate propositional truth you can believe anything and become subject to no one's authority, wisdom, or guidance.) They are not against God, just anyone person telling them what to believe about Him.  Consequently, they resent authority (which they see as leading to controversy, which is always to be avoided), and authority figures, but all in the name of collegiality and getting along singing "Kumbaya".

You might hear them as if they have come full circle in the Protestant mainstream church saying:  "I don't believe in the inspiration of Scripture anymore!"  They way they now "follow Jesus" is by the teaching of the church!  This is a reversion to pre-Reformation days when the Roman Church held absolute power and authority over all dogma and the parishioners were bound by church dogma and faith itself was even defined as a simple agreement with church dogma.  It was the Reformers who set us free from this authority and gave us the right to interpret the Bible ourselves; however, with this privilege comes the responsibility to interpret it correctly, as 2 Tim. 2:15, NKJV, declares "... rightly dividing the Word of truth."  We are no longer slaves to the church's interpretation and dogma, and that is meant to mean that churches are now autonomous and compete with each other for the truth--competition meant to keep them honest.

What else do they believe, or not believe in Postmodernism?  They believe that if something works for you it is true for you--truth is personal or subjective and we must find our own truths--relativism.  What the logical conclusion is that we will have churches teaching such heresies as there is no hell to shun because some people prefer not to believe in it and it doesn't work for them.  Some Christians prefer not to see God as the Judge, but only as a doting, indulgent Father that is a genie.  Interpreting the Word no longer depends upon learning and the science of hermeneutics, but of sharing ignorance and Christians deciding what they believe the Bible means and what it means to them, not what the author meant.  This is all the result of believers being ignorant of basic doctrine and not knowing what they believe or being learned in how to arrive at truth objectively.

We don't go to Bible study to become dependent on the teacher, but to arrive at a point of maturity, possibly being able to start one ourselves, by virtue of learning how to learn and study.  We cannot kiss twenty centuries of scholarship goodbye because of some newfangled philosophy of uncertainty and hermeneutic of skepticism and doubt.  Postmodernists deny that we have arrived at an orthodox gospel yet, or that we know the truth at all as a group, but must keep the door open and challenging.  It is dangerous to posit that someone else's truth has no power over you.  

Pragmatism is about what's practical and what works, not what's true, just as the usefulness of an idea is tested by results, not truth, which we don't have the right to ascertain for another, according to Postmodernists.  That's why they may say:  That doctrine doesn't work for me, so, therefore, it's invalid.  Go for whatever works for you, rather than be a seeker of the truth.  But Jesus came to bear witness of the truth, and those of the truth will listen to Him (cf. John 18:37)!  Many things that are not true work: illicit drugs, such as cannabis; yoga; TM; hypnotism; astrology; channeling; crystals; Ouija boards; karma; and even reincarnation. These methodologies do work for some and give them purpose and meaning in life, but they are not true.  The point of Christianity is that it is not true because it works--and it does work--but that it works because it's true!    Viva la difference! 

Postmodernist Christians have denied the power of the living, abiding Word, the very foundation of our orthodoxy--scholarship of our church history, and even the inerrancy and infallibility of the Word, opening it up to misinterpretation and any stand for dogmatism of any doctrine as being in vain.  They claim to be evangelical, but believe that, if they convert atheists to theists, they are converts! The ultimate truth is said to be unknowable (cf. John 8:32 which says that "you shall know the truth"), and we cannot boast of having arrived at orthodoxy or even the gospel yet.  There is an underlying contempt for all certainty, and truth is said to be ambiguous at best, even unworthy of debate--all controversy is inherently evil.  They deny the basic premise of Scripture that God alone delimits and defines the Truth, and it's not subject to or open to debate but is absolute, universal, and eternal.

To conclude: Christians are to love the truth, seek the truth, know the truth, and desire to live it in out in love by consequence. Nonbelievers "reject the truth" and refuse to "love the truth so to be saved" (cf. Rom. 2:8; 2 Thess. 2:10).  We need Christians who will "contend earnestly for the faith (cf. Jude 3, NKJV) and recognize heresy creeping in by virtue of having a foundation in the truth.  The best witness a Postmodernist believer can utter is that they think Jesus "has worked for them." Buddhists say this of Buddha.  Caveat:  refusing to acknowledge, defend, and consequently know the truth is a sort of unbelief.  A word to the wise:  Never forget that there's eternal, knowable, universal, absolute, objective Truth with a capital T.    Soli Deo Gloria!

"Many Waters Cannot Quench Love" (Compare SOS 8:7, KJV)

"This is how we have come to know love:  He laid down His life for us..." (1 John 3:16, HCSB).
"God's love was revealed among us in this way:  God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him" (1 John 4:9, HCSB).
"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits"  (Psalm 103:2, ESV).
"What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me?" (Psalm 116:12, ESV).
"I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11, HCSB).

When we survey the cross of Christ we see the unbounded, unrestricted love of Christ to the max, both human and divine intermingled, cooperative, and coexisting to full expression.  Oh, to know the love of God manifest in sending His Son:  "to know this love that surpasses understanding" (Eph. 3:19, NIV).  The concept of God's love must be seen in light of the fact that Jesus laid down His life for us, and it was not only sacrificial but generous.  God truly offers His love to a wayward world (cf. Titus 2:11) through the substitutionary death of His Son on the cross.  While we were enemies, He died for us (cf. Rom. 5:8)!

We often think that we merit God's love, but we don't and we are unworthy. The more unworthy our self-appraisal, the closer we are to God.  It is said that "love that reaches up is worship, love that extends outward is affection, but love that stoops is grace" and God condescended to us in reaching out and down to us when we didn't deserve it.  We have no claim on God's love and friendship, yet He offers it freely.  It is free, but not cheap!  God expects us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices; i.e., living our lives to His glory and service.  We must surrender to God's love, and the refusal of the love of God is the epitome of Sin, according to Karl Menninger, M.D.

When we resist God's love, we become callous or hardened in our souls and insensitive to His ministry in our hearts and cannot love others: God wants to love others through us!   The extent of God's love is demonstrated by all the people He can reach through us--no ethnicity, category, or class of man is excluded.  In this day and age politics plays a vital role in our social life and we must realize that God loves Democrats as well as Republicans, even if they are wrong--God doesn't love us because we are right or moral or decent, respectable and distinguished citizens who have achieved the American dream, God loves the have-nots as well as the haves; the proletariat as well as the bourgeoisie!

Financial prosperity is not the litmus test of God's love and approval--the wicked also prospers, if they are wise and play by the rules.  But we believers must realize that our reward is not in this life and the unbeliever's reward ["portion" in ESV] is in this life (cf. Psalm 17:14).  Prosperity theology, or that God guarantees and promises financial gain as a result of piety is heresy, and we are not to think of godliness as a means of gain in this life (cf. 1 Tim. 6:5).  "But godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Tim. 6:6, NIV).

The uniqueness of God's love is that we cannot escape it: no matter where we go it follows us; angels and demons cannot separate us from it; the stars have no power over us; death and hell cannot divide us from it; we ourselves cannot outlast it or negate its power over us.  The Hound of Heaven chases us down and dogs us till He finds us!  God is in love with us and is determined to express it through Jesus living in us!

We can find out for ourselves by experience as we know the love of God (2 Cor. 13:14).  The proof is in the pudding and we are challenged to invite Christ into our hearts so we can know it for ourselves.  Indeed, the love of God is shed into our hearts according to Rom. 5:5.  The primary fruit of the Spirit is love (cf. Gal. 5:22), and the "only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" (cf. Gal. 5:6, NIV). The point is not that we loved God, but that He loved us and "we love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).  That's why Karl Barth was asked what was the most profound truth in Scripture:  "Jesus loves me!"

God's love must be seen characteristically and can be qualified:  it's universal, in that it applies to all without discrimination, favoritism, or partiality--God is no respecter of persons; it's gracious, in that we don't deserve it, can't earn it, nor ever be able to pay it back; it's sacrificial, in that it cost Christ His death on the cross on our behalf; and it's beneficial, in that we receive multifold bounties and blessings by virtue of being reconciled to God and recipients of the love, that has fringe benefits or perks--it pays to know God!  The wonderful news is that God loves us despite ourselves, and knew all about us before we were born, so He is never surprised by our behavior and can love us eternally--God loves us anyway.

Realizing our unworthiness and being grateful for God's love is the first step to finding God in Christ through the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross by virtue of grace via a personal exercise of faith in the person and work of God's Son.  In effect, at the crucifixion, Christ was reaching out His hands and saying, "This is how much I love you!"  It was not the nails that kept Him on the cross, but His eternal love!  And this is the crux of the matter:  Once you've experienced it, you want to pass it on! God saves us to be in turn a blessing (cf. Zech. 8:13)!

In the final analysis, there's no one God cannot love or reach out to through us when He lives in us by the Holy Spirit's anointing. The heart of the matter, it's said, is that its a matter of the heart!  In sum, the essence of God's nature is love, and to know God is to know the love of God; love defines Him and it is written thus: "God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16).

   Soli Deo Gloria!

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!