June 26, 2009

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness...." II Timothy 3:14-16

Anyone who has written a book will testify to how difficult that is. Mark Twain said, "There are some books that refuse to be written. They stand their ground year after year and will not be persuaded. It isn't because the book is not there and worth being written -- it is only because the right form of the story does not present itself. There is only one right form for a story and if you fail to find that form the story will not tell itself."

Not many have written better than Mark Twain, so when he testifies to how hard it is to write a book, people listen.

Can you imagine a book written by over forty different writers each being true to his style and having that book end up with a central common theme? That would be an amazing coincidence. Or would it?

Another one of the solid pieces of evidence for the truthfulness of the Bible is that fact that it was written my multiple authors over a long period of time and yet focusing on one clear central theme. Consider this evidence:

Five, The Structure of the Bible

The remarkable structure of the Bible should also be stressed. Although it is a collection of 66 books, written by 40 or more different men over a period of 2,000 years, it is clearly one Book, with perfect unity and consistency throughout.

The individual writers, at the time of writing, had no idea that their message was eventually to be incorporated into such a Book, but each nevertheless fits perfectly into place and serves its own unique purpose as a component of the whole. Anyone who diligently studies the Bible will continually find remarkable structural and mathematical patterns woven throughout its fabric, with an intricacy and symmetry incapable of explanation by chance or collusion.

The one consistent theme of the Bible, developing in grandeur from Genesis to Revelation, is God's great work in the creation and redemption of all things, through His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible was written in different places: Moses in the wilderness. Jeremiah in a dungeon. Daniel on a hillside and in a palace. Paul inside prison walls. John in exile on the barren Isle of Patmos. The authors wrote during different moods. Some from the heights of joy and others from the depths of sorrow and despair. They wrote it on three continents, Asia, Africa and Europe in 3 languages, Hebrew, the language of Canaan, Aramaic, the common language of the near East until Alexander the Great and Greek, the international language at the time of Christ.
The subject matter includes 100's of controversial topics, yet the biblical authors spoke with harmony and continuity from Genesis to Revelation. There is one unfolding story, God's salvation of man. F.F. Bruce "The writings belong to a greats variety of literary types. They include history, law (civil, criminal, ethical, ritual, sanitary), religious poetry, lyric poetry, parable and allegory, biography, personal correspondence, memoirs and diaries..... For all that there is unity which binds the whole together.

How do forty different writers writing over 16 centuries in a variety of places compile a book that focuses like a laser beam on the story of redemption of a sinful human race by a merciful and loving God? Maybe their thoughts weren't their thoughts. Perhaps the ideas, and the thoughts were planted in their spirits by the Holy Spirit?

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness......"

That would would make God's Word - well...... God's word!

June 25, 2009

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." Mark 13:31

How about some more evidence of the veracity of the Bible? So far we have given three examples and today I will offer a fourth, the amazing survival of the Bible despite continual relentless vicious attacks aimed against it.

Four, The Miraculous Survival of Scripture

Consider:

French humanist, Voltaire, (1700) boastfully proclaimed, "one hundred years from now the world will hear no more of the Bible." Yet, in the year of his boast, the British museum purchased a manuscript of the Greek New Testament for $500,000 while the first edition of Voltaire's new book sold for eight cents a copy! Furthermore, fifty years after the death of Voltaire, Bibles were being printed by the Geneva Bible Society in the very house where Voltaire lived and on his own printing press!

Late 7th Century B.C.--King Johioakim of Judah threw the scoll of Jeremiah's prophecy into the fire; however, God simply had his prophet write the same words again with additional material (Jeremiah 36:21-32).

William Tyndale (1500), after the invention of the printing press, put the Bible in his common language. Priests and bishops burned thousands of copies of his translation as a "burnt offering most pleasing to the Almighty God". He too was burned at the stake. His last words were, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes!" Less than three years after that, King Henry VIII authorized the publication of the Great Bible. This version was a combination of the Tyndale Bible and that of Miles Coverdale. A copy was chained to every pulpit in England so that everyone could read it.

Mid-20th century--A patient in an American hospital in Turkey was given a Bible. When dismissed from the hospital, he took the Bible back to his hometown in Turkey and proudly showed it to his friends. A muslim teacher* snatched it from him, tore out its pages and threw them into the street. The young man was afriad to pick them up. A passing grocer, however, did and took them and used them for wrapping paper. Before long, they were scattered all over the town. His costumers read the pages and returned to him for more. In a few days the entire Bible was distributed to interested readers. When a Bible salesman came to town, he was surprised to find a hundred people eager to purchase the Word of God!

Doesn't it seem that Someone wants the Word to survive? Could it be the same Someone Who declared, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

Doesn't it also seem evident that someone else doesn't want it to survive? Could that be the powers of darkness, those enemies of God who fear the Truth and want to keep us ignorant?

Guess who is winning!?

God, the Holy Spirit, has inspired the Word. God, the Son, became the Word. God, the Father, has miraculously preserved the Word.

So, what will you do with it?

June 24, 2009

"He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in." Isaiah 40:22

Third, Scientific Accuracy

Many people have been conditioned to think that science and Scripture are incompatible. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Centuries before medieval scholars had figured out the world wasn't flat, the Bible announced its curvature. (Isaiah 40:22) Numerous other scientific principles are announced in the Scriptures long before they were discovered and confirmed by scientific methods.

Consider these amazing revelations:

* The roundness of the earth (see Isaiah 40:22)

* The almost infinite extent of the universe (see Isaiah 55:9)

* Law of conservation of mass and energy (see II Peter 3:7)

* The hydrologic cycle (see Eccles. 1:7)

* Vast number of stars (see Jeremiah 33:22)

* The law of increasing entropy (see Psalm 102:25-27)

* The vital importance of blood in life processes (see Lev. 17:11)

* Atmospheric circulation (see Eccles. 1:6)

* The gravitational field (Job 26:7)

None of these revelations are couched in technical scientific jargon, but nonetheless, they bring to light facts about the universe that were not previously known. How were these advanced scientific truths revealed? Even though they would not be widely studied or understood for centuries, God's Word reveals them in various portions of Scripture.

How did these ancient writers know these elements of nature when they had not studied them and when they were not readily known? Lucky guess? I don't think so!

They could only know these natural truths if they were divinely revealed by One Who is supernatural!

If God could reveal these facts centuries before they were proven by accepted scientific methods, maybe He can be trusted to inspire the rest of the Scriptures, too! Since He was right in these predictions, maybe we can trust His veracity in the other Books of Scripture!

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to believe in God's Word!

June 23, 2009

"Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught."

Luke 1:1-4

Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke, was a well-respected physician in his day. He wasn't the kind who takes wooden nickels. Luke wasn't afraid to ask the hard question and was in a constant search for truth. His Gospel is written to give a historical documentation of the truth of this new faith called Christianity. Since his primary audience was the Greeks, he had to make sure his arguments were solid and proven. He did. They are!

That brings us to our second proof of the authenticity of the Bible:

Second, Historical Accuracy

Quoting Alex McFarland, "The historical accuracy of the Scriptures is in a class by itself, far superior to the written records of Egypt, Assyria, and other ancient nations. Archeological confirmations of the biblical record have been almost innumerable in the last century."

Dr. Nelson Glueck, is regarded by many as the greatest modern authority on Israeli archeology. He observed, "No archeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference. Scores of archeological findings have been made which confim in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible."

Here are a few of the document archeological finds that support biblical claims:

Old Testament discoveries:

The city of Jericho (by the way, the walls DID fall in)

The city of Nineveh

Ur, which had Ziggurats (similar to what scholars had imagined the Tower of Babel would have resembled)

Babylon, a clay fragment was unearthed there with the following inscription referring to one particular ziggurate: "Offended the gods, was destroyed at night....people scattered with speech made strange." (sound familiar?)

Meggido, the failure to discover this city was cited as a criticism against the authenticity of the Old Testament. But guess what? It was recently discovered and was found to be where, indeed, Solomon kept his stables for 450 horses. (See I Kings 9 and II Chronicles 8)

This is just a partial list, but impressive historical documentation for any open-minded researcher.

Want some New Testament historical evidence?

The following places referenced in the New Testament have been verified by archeological finds:

Bethany

Bethlehem

Bethesda

Cesarea

Cana - in 725 A.D. an inscription was found referencing "Cana, near Nazareth" and referring to the "miracle of the wine."

Capernaum

Emmaus

Again, this is only a partial list of the archeological documentations.

Skeptics, atheists, and agnostics put their confidence in historical records and manuscripts far less documented than the Old and New Testaments. So, faith ultimately becomes and issue of the heart not the head.

For those of you who have given your hearts to Jesus, here is some good stuff to wrap your head around!

June 22, 2009

"Jesus said, 'Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.'" Matthew 24:35

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1

As Wesleyans, we believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. Here is our official statement: "We believe that the books of the Old and New Testaments constitute the Holy Scriptures. They are the inspired and infallibly written Word of God, fully inerrant in their original manuscripts and superior to all human authority, and have been transmitted to the present without corruption of any essential doctrine. We believe that they contain all things necessary to salvation; so that whatever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man or woman that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. Both in the Old and New Testaments life is offered ultimately through Christ, who is the only Mediator between God and humanity. The New Testament teaches Christians how to fulfill the moral principles of the Old Testament, calling for loving obedience to God made possible by the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit."

How can you confidently embrace this strong statement about the Bible?

In my posts this week I want to share some convincing proofs of the authenticity of the Scriptures.

The First Proof Is Fulfilled Prophecies

Astronomy and mathematics professor, Peter Stoner, was a long time skeptic of the Bible. He set out to prove himself right by conclusively discrediting the Bible. The litmus test of sacred writings is the accuracy of their prophecies. Stoner focused on 48 Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah. Of the 48 he concentrated on 8. Using the principles of mathematical probability, he calculated that the odds of all 8 of those prophecies being fulfilled in one person is 1 in 10 to the 17th power. However, the chances of all 48 being fulfilled in a single person is 1 in 10 to the 157th power!

Since the evidence of these prophecies and their fulfillment are specific and verifiable, Professor Stoner convinced himself that Jesus was Who He said He was and the Old Testament is completely reliable! He was left with no other choice but to become a believer in Christ AND the Bible!

God has always taken His Word very seriously and set a high standard for those who would make a prophecy and claim that it was from God. Prophecies had to be 100% true and happen precisely as predicted. It not, that prophet was adjudged to be a fake and was then stoned.

Compare that lofty standard to the vague and often erroneous prophecies offered by the likes of Jeanne Dixon, Nostradamus and Edgar Cayce, who are often held in high regard by the very people who question the authenticity of Scripture.

Even a modicum of intellectual honesty would demand that those who give credence to Dixon, Nostradamus or Cayce, extend the same serious consideration to the Biblical prophets.

We believe in the absolute veracity of the Scriptures because they originate in the mind of God and reflect His character. These words and prophecies and truths were given to godly men who feared God. They were transmitted by God's Holy Spirit to Spirit-inspired men of God. Many of these godly men who spoke these truths and wrote them down, often did so at great personal sacrifice and suffering. If their intentions were to deceive others, they paid a high price to propagate a deception.

Despite the many attacks on the authenticity of the Bible, no serious claim against the truthfulness of the Scripture has ever been conclusively documented. In fact, there is considerable evidence supporting the claims of the Word. Hundreds of prophecies have already been fulfilled and not one has ever failed to be true.

You can bet your life on the Word of God! (and your eternity)

June 20, 2009

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6

When Tiger Woods steps on the first tee this morning for his second round of the U. S. Open, I'm sure he will have some fond memories of his father, Earl, who died two years ago.

I know it is a huge leap to switch from thoughts about Noah to Earl Woods, who never gave any indication of having a faith. But, he did raise a champion, so there may be some things we can learn about raising champions for God.

Earl guided and motivated Tiger in his rise to the top of the golf world and has been the driving force behind the Tour's exponential growth and popularity. At Kansas State in the early 1950s he was the first black baseball player in what was then the Big Seven Conference, and he was a Green Beret who served two tours in Vietnam.

"I'm overwhelmed when I think of all the great things he accomplished," Woods said on his website. "He was an amazing dad, coach, mentor, soldier, husband and friend. I wouldn't be where I am today without him."

In the summer of 1993, Earl Woods brought his son to Butch Harmon, another Vietnam vet, to see if Harmon could help make Tiger Woods a better golfer.

"Earl Woods was a great dad," Harmon says. "He always had his son's best interest at heart. He did everything he could do to see that his son got the best help he could get."

Harmon said he and the elder Woods came to an agreement shortly after the first meeting at Lochinvar Golf Club in Houston, where Harmon was the pro. Earl brought Tiger to Harmon after Tiger had been eliminated in the U.S. Amateur at Champions in Houston.

"I told Earl this wouldn't work if I told Tiger one thing and he told him another," Harmon recalls. "He said, 'I'll make you a deal. I won't tell you how to teach Tiger golf if you won't tell me how to be Tiger's dad.' "

A year later Tiger won the first of three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles. In his career, he has displayed mental and physical skills seldom seen in any golfer. He has 67 career wins, including 14 majors as a pro.

In an excerpt published in USA WEEKEND, Earl said he had Tiger hearing jazz music when he was 5 days old. As Tiger lay in the crib, Earl would say, "Daddy loves you. I am here for you." By the time Tiger was 2, Earl was drilling him on mental toughness, "an outgrowth of my upbringing and my years as a Green Beret."

"I pulled every nasty, dirty, obnoxious trick on him," Earl wrote. He tossed balls in front of Tiger while he putted. He dropped bags of clubs behind Tiger when he hit tee shots. He'd cough during the backswing.

"I played with his mind," Earl wrote.

Earl cautioned that his approach wasn't for every father and every son but it worked because he and Tiger had a special bond, built from the beginning.

"The best thing about those practices was that my father always kept it fun," Tiger wrote. "It's amazing how much you learn when you truly enjoy doing something."

Harmon says when Earl brought Tiger to him he learned two things pretty quickly: Earl's son was very talented, and they didn't have much money.

"I made an agreement with Earl that I'd work with Tiger for nothing until he became a pro," Harmon says. "Then they'd have to pay me."

Here's the point, Earl decided from the beginning that his son would be a champion and he raised him to be one. He ingrained that expectation within Tiger's soul and gave him the tools and the tutelage to make it happen.

Not every child will have the skills and talent of Tiger, but every dad can have the goal and determination of Earl.

To summarize, here's how Earl "trained up Tiger in the way he should go":

1) He started immediately and bonded with his son

2) He connected him early with expectations and dreams

3) He taught, trained and toughened Tiger as far as he could

4) He put Tiger in the hands of an expert so he could refine his talents

5) He kept it fun and enjoyable - Earl took the dream seriously but kept the learning fun

What are you doing to raise champions for Christ? Maybe there's something you can learn from a champion dad!

June 19, 2009

"As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." Matthew 24:37-39

I hope you're not "Noahed" out yet. There is a lot to learn from this guy and the more I study about him the more he impresses me. He really did "man up".

We have talked about how Noah pleased God and how he protected his family. This morning I want to focus on how he preserved the human race. If he had not "manned up" we would be as extinct as the dinosaurs.

What we can learn from Noah is especially timely in our day because Noah's day looked strikingly similar to nowadays. In fact, Jesus pointed to the days of Noah as one the signs of end times. So, pay attention!

Here's what we can take away from Noah:

Noah Received the Truth

"By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen...." Heb. 1:7

Noah didn't suddenly show up and decide to build a boat. He didn't wake up one day and read the weather report. God needed a "go to" guy that He could count on for an enormously important assignment. It wasn't like God had a lot of options. Noah stood out like a beacon in the darkness. While everyone else was partying like sin, Noah was honoring God.

Because Noah revered the truth, he recognized the truth and, therefore, was able to receive the truth. God commended Noah as a righteous man BEFORE he built the ark! That's why he got the gig.

So, what's your relationship to the truth of God? Could God count on you to "man up" if He needed to count on you? (By the way - He does)

Noah Recognized the Times

"As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." Matthew 24:37-39

God noticed how rotten things had become. So had Noah. Only those who are righteous and holy will recognize evil. And they are the only ones who care. From what we see in Scripture accounts it was all-party all the time. Debauchery was more common than decency. Apparently, Mr. and Mrs. Noah were the only ones who bothered to do the right things. Surrounded by evil, they never surrendered to evil.

If you have ever wondered whether one person can make a difference in the midst of prevailing evil the answer is "yes"! It doesn't take a lot of righteous people to turn the tide, but it does take committed ones. Noah was the one man difference between the extinction of the human race and the will of God.

Jesus reminds us to be like Noah in recognizing the times and in responding to them. And remember that one man who "mans up" + God = a majority.

Noah Rose to the Task

".....in holy fear built an ark...." Heb. 11:7

Now that Noah was aware of the impending disaster, he had a choice. He could learn to tread water or he could build a boat. He had no experience with either, but he knew that when God calls you to a task He equips you and instructs you. It was never about Noah's ability but his availability and it is never about your ability either. God will always call you to God-sized tasks and challenges you to "man up" with His power.

Noah dedicated a significant portion of his life to accomplishing the task that would please God, protect his family and preserve humanity. Every morning for over 100 years he got up and cut timbers, and pounded nails, and poured pitch. He was faithful to the task, one hour at a time. While everyone else was playing and partying, Noah was punching the time clock.

Heroes happen one obedient task at a time. That's how you "man up".

You are not the only godly man in town, like Noah was. But your love of the truth and your awareness of the time and your faithfulness to the task is just as crucial to your corner of the world as Noah's was.

Thank God for Noah! What a man!

As you celebrate this Father's Day week-end why not honor manhood by learning from Noah. I challenge you to commit as he did to please God, protect his family and preserve rightousness in your generation.