lizzzyyy097

One of the most interesting aspects of getting into the gospels is learning about the different interests of the various authors. Mark writes simply and succinctly. He seems particularly fascinated by Jesus' ministry to those who are demonically possessed. Luke's language is more technical. He focuses on the prayer life of Jesus. John writes the story of Jesus like a person who had preached those stories again and again, as indeed he had. Matthew sees Jesus as the new Moses. Isn't it amazing that God chose four men to provide different perspectives on the life of Jesus in order to provide us the fullest possible picture? For me one, of the most interesting examples of this is Luke's habit of contrasting religious men, who should "get it" but don't with simple women who shouldn't get it, but do. (We need to remember that women were generally looked down upon in the 1st century until the coming of Jesus, who brought them a new dignity.) Zechariah said to...

I have been pondering a possible relationship between the minimizing of the Bible in so-called seeker-driven churches and in some of the radical forms of contextualization that have emerged in missions. Perhaps there isn't any connection. But I wonder. The common denominator that I am pondering is the loss of confidence that declaring what the Bible says in the power of the Holy Spirit can create and sustain the church of Christ. This morning I just read John 2:11, "This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him." I bowed and prayed, "O Lord, this is how faith happens. People are given eyes to see your glory in your person and in your deeds. Please don't let me turn away from the ministry that puts all the emphasis on the ‘gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God'" (2 Corinthians 4:4). Then I was reminded of another text in John which connected the revelation of Christ...

I want to give you five reasons to affirm the Bible is the Word of God. First, I believe the Bible is the Word of God because of its scientific accuracy. The Truth of the Word of God tells us that God “hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7). How did Job know that the earth hung in space before the age of modern astronomy and space travel? The Holy Spirit told him. The scientists of Isaiah’s day didn’t know the topography of the earth, but Isaiah said, “It is [God] that sitteth upon the circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22). The word for “circle” here means a globe or sphere. How did Isaiah know that God say upon the circle of the earth? By divine inspiration. Secondly, the Bible is affirmed through historical accuracy. Do you remember the story about the handwriting on the wall that is found in the fifth chapter of Daniel? Belshazzar hosted a feast with a thousand of his lords and ladies. Suddenly, a gruesome hand appeared out of nowhere and began to write on a wall. The king was dis...

To defend the faith we must be equipped to demonstrate that the Bible is divine rather than human in origin. If we can successfully accomplish this, we can answer a host of other objections simply by appealing to Scripture. To chart our course I will use the acronym M-A-P-S. Since most Bibles have maps in the back, this should prove to be a memorable association. M = Manuscripts. Since we don't have the original biblical manuscripts, the question is, "How good are the copies?" The answer is that the Bible has stronger manuscript support than any other work of classical literature-including Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Caesar, and Tacitus. The reliability of Scripture is also confirmed through the eye witness credentials of the authors. Moses, for example, participated in and was an eyewitness to the remarkable events of the Egyptian captivity, the Exodus, the 40 years in the desert, and Israel's final encampment before entering the Promised Land, all of which are accurate...

One of the most interesting stories of 2008 involved the CERN laboratory outside of Geneva, Switzerland. On Wednesday, September 10, 2008, scientists turned on the Large Hadron Collider, an eight-billion dollar experiment, designed to see what happens when protons crash into one another at ridiculously fast speeds. "We can now look forward," said the project director, "to a new era of understanding about the origins and evolution of the universe." Christians can and should be excited about this kind of research. Our knowledge of reality, however, is not limited to what science can prove.Christians believe God has spoken (which presumes, of course, a God who can speak!). As the apostle Paul wrote Timothy, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16). If this text is not true—if Scripture is not inspired by Go...