Life-changing or Time Wasting?

Would you be surprised to learn that only 31% of Americans believe that the Bible is the literal word of God. That number shrinks to a mere 10% if we're only asking people who claim no religious affiliation. In addition to that, 19% of Americans feel the Bible is nothing more than a compilation of myths and legends.

What do you think? Do you believe the Bible is the literal word of God or a collection of myths and legends? Does it make any difference whether or not you believe the Bible is “God-breathed” as long as you believe in God? Is there anything inherently special about the Bible? Is it possible to read the Bible, all the way through, and not be changed by what you’ve read?

Exhibit 1:

“The prince of Grenada, an heir to the Spanish crown, was sentenced to life in solitary confinement in Madrid's ancient prison. The dreadful, dirty, and dreary nature of the place earned it the name, ‘The Place of the Skull.’ Everyone knew that once you were in, you would never come out alive. The prince was given one book to read the entire time: the Bible.
With only one book to read, he read it hundreds and hundreds of times. The book became his constant companion. After 33 years of imprisonment, he died. When they came to clean out his cell, they found some notes he had written using nails to mark the soft stone of the prison walls. The notations were of this sort: Psalm 118:8 is the middle verse of the Bible; Ezra 7:21 contains all the letters of the alphabet except the letter J; the ninth verse of the eighth chapter of Esther is the longest verse in the Bible; no word or name more than six syllables can be found in the Bible.
“This individual spent 33 years of his life studying what some have described as the greatest book of all time. Yet he could only glean trivia. From all we know, he never made any religious or spiritual commitment to Christ. He simply became an expert at Bible trivia.”[1]

Exhibit 2:

“A Christian university student shared a room with a Muslim. As they became friends, their conversation turned to their beliefs. The believer asked the Muslim if he'd ever read the Bible. He answered no, but then asked if the Christian had ever read the Koran.
“The believer responded, ‘No, I haven't, but I'm sure it would be interesting. Why don't we read both together, once a week, alternating books?’ The young man accepted the challenge, their friendship deepened, and during the second term he became a believer in Jesus.
“One evening, late in the term, he burst into the room and shouted at the long-time believer, ‘You deceived me!’
“‘What are you talking about?’ the believer asked.
“The new believer opened his Bible and said, ‘I've been reading it through, like you told me, and just read that the Word is living and active!’ He grinned. ‘You knew all along that the Bible contained God's power and that the Koran is a book like any other. I never had a chance!’
“‘And now you'll hate me for life?’ queried the believer.
“‘No,’ he answered, ‘but it was an unfair contest.’”[2]

What made the difference between the responses of these two men? One was saved and one just collected trivia. (Although I’m not convince that the prince of Grenada wasn’t changed by reading the Bible for 33 years. It’s just that nobody got the chance to talk to him about it. Maybe the odd trivia was just an intellectual activity to fill some of the crushing monotony of 33 years in prison.)

We hear so often about people who don’t have any experience with God who just start reading the Bible and are brought into a relationship with Jesus. I guess I really didn’t think of folks who read the Bible and were left unchanged.  That worries me a little because that means that it is possible for me to read my Bible and remain unchanged as well. How can I make sure that we have a life changing experience while reading the Bible is life-changing and not a waste of time?

Well a Tyndale House study found that regular Bible readers, on the whole, describe themselves as "at peace," "happy," and "full of joy" more often that people who said they never read the Bible.

That’s all well and good, but I don’t want to just be happier, I want to spend eternity with Jesus my Savior!

Well, first of all, just Bible reading isn’t enough, I have to study, and study without prayer asking for the leading of the Holy Spirit won’t do me much good either.

“Superficial study of the word of God can not [sic] meet the claims it has upon us, nor furnish us with the benefit that is promised. We should seek to learn the full meaning of the words of truth, and to drink deep the spirit of the holy oracles. To read daily a certain number of chapters, or to commit to memory a stipulated amount of Scripture, without careful thought as to the meaning of the text, will profit but little. To study one passage until its significance is clear to the mind, and its relation to the plan of salvation is evident, is of more value than the perusal of many chapters with no definite purpose in view and no positive instruction gained. We can not [sic] obtain wisdom from the word of God without giving earnest and prayerful attention to its study.
You must dig in the mine of truth till you find its greatest treasure, and by comparing scripture with scripture you may find the true meaning of the text.
“... In searching for Heaven-revealed truths, the Spirit of God is brought into close connection with the sincere searcher of the Scriptures. … No study is better to give energy to the mind, to strengthen the intellect, than the study of the word of God. No other book is so potent in elevating the thoughts, in giving vigor to the faculties, as is the Bible, which contains the most ennobling truths. If God’s word were studied as it should be, we would see breadth of mind, stability of purpose, nobility of character, such as are rarely seen in these times. ( E.G. White, Signs of the Times, September 26, 1895)

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm ready to "dig in the mine of truth" for God's greatest treasure.
Dig in!

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[1] Leonard Sweet, Your Church in Today's Fluid Culture (Group Publishing, 1999), p. 59

[2] Floyd Schneider, Evangelism for the Fainthearted (Kregel, 2000

The Revisionist Bible

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson fr 1.19.13

Once upon a time, the world happened, possibly with the help of some Higher Being. Finally, men and women came along. They began to worship the Higher Being and to tell and to write down stories about It (the Higher Being). In some of the stories, the Higher Being was called God. One of the stories described how some of the people thought God created the world and all the animals and people in six days. Another story was about a flood that God sent when the people weren’t paying enough attention to Him.     After that the stories were about lots of people who tried to do the right things to make God happy but they kept messing up so He gave them a set of rules that they had to follow. There are stories about wars and people who were good and people who were not.  The people wrote some poems to God. Some people wrote about things they said God told them were going to happen in the future.

After a long time, a baby named Jesus was born and he grew up and was a good man. He made some of the people who believed in God so angry that they killed him. But some people thought he was sent by God and they worshiped him and wrote about the things Jesus said and did while he was on Earth. Finally the people wrote a book about how God would get revenge on all the people who didn’t follow His rules. The End.

I just found out that Thomas Jefferson actually put together his own version of the Gospels. He called it, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. What he did was, he took six bibles – two in English, two in French and two that were in Greek and Latin. Then he actually cut passages out of the Gospels and pasted them back in another book, in chronological order. He put the same passages in English, French, Latin and Greek next to each other so he could compare them.

The final book, called The Jefferson Bible, is 86 pages long and is still around. The Smithsonian bought it from Jefferson’s great-granddaughter in 1895 for the huge sum of $400.

Pretty cool, right? Well, it was a good idea. But what Jefferson actually did while he was cutting and pasting was take out everything except 

“those parts that can be identified through reason and thought, … So out goes [sic] the miracles, out goes [sic] the resurrections and what remains is what he thinks is the life and morals of Jesus, the true teachings."
Jefferson even changed the grammar at one point. “On one page, he apparently didn't like the number of prepositions in a verse from Matthew that started, ‘For as in the days that were before the flood ...’ He cut out the word ‘as,’ changing the scripture to ‘For in the days that were before the flood ..."[1]

Here’s the whole text: 

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24:36-39

I don’t know, maybe leaving out a word here or there isn’t that big of a deal, but leaving out anything that can’t be “identified through reason and thought?” (Well, right off the bat, I object to the assertion that things that require faith exclude both reason and thought, but that’s a whole different article.)

What was Jefferson really trying to do though? The same thing people have been trying to do since just about right after the Fall. He was trying to take the “Godness” out of God.

If God is just a social construct (something that humans made up) and Jesus was just a really good guy, then we don’t have to believe in anything hard like a real six day creation, a catastrophic flood, a virgin birth, or a resurrection. If we can look at the Bible as a compilation of some really good stories that teach some good lessons, then we don’t have to believe anything that makes us uncomfortable like the Ten Commandments or a final accounting for the way we’ve lived our lives. We don’t have to be changed by a relationship with the God who made us … because, “if we admit that He made us,” as a friend of mine said, “we have to admit that He can tell us what to do – He has a right to be interested/involved in our lives.” That makes a whole lot of people really uncomfortable.

The truth is, whether we like it or not – whether we can understand it or not, the Bible is true. God created the world in six days and rested on the Sabbath. If we discount the Genesis account of Creation, then what’s to stop us from discounting any other part of the Bible that we can’t understand? And, once we start cutting and pasting only the parts we can understand, we’ll find that we’ve cut out God. After that, there’s nothing left.  

“God is the foundation of everything. All true science is in harmony with his works; all true education leads to obedience to his government. Science opens new wonders to our view; she soars high, and explores new depths; but she brings nothing from her research that conflicts with divine revelation. Ignorance may seek to support false views of God by appeals to science; but the book of nature and the written word shed light upon each other. We are thus led to adore the Creator, and to have an intelligent trust in his word.” E.G. White, Christian Education, p 196

"In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being. In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men.  And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it]." John 1:1-5AMP

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[1] Sally Holland, “Saving Thomas Jefferson's scrapbook Bible,” CNN, http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/11/thomas-jeffersons-scrapbook-bible/

Marked

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson for 10.13.12

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  2 Timothy 2:15

True confession time – I don’t know how to study. I know how to look stuff up and to read things … but I just don’t get the whole concept of “studying” something. Once I’ve read it, I don’t really know what else to do.

That’s become kind of a frustration for me when it comes to studying the Bible. Give me a passage to read and I can read it, no sweat. But reading isn’t the same as studying. Imagine going to a banquet and all you do is look at and sniff all the food – that’s not the same as actually eating the food. You can describe the food, but it hasn’t become part of you.

Now, I’m thinking, I’m not alone in my study impaired state. When January rolls around, we’re all set to start reading through our Bibles in a year, following the Bible Reading plan du jour. The problem is, after a few short weeks, we’ve fallen so far behind in our reading that we finally just give up. But even if we kept up with that, we’re just reading; that’s not studying! And besides all that, studying is hard, and boring, and it takes time I don’t have, and I don’t know how.

“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:14-17.

In 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul tells us that to be approved by God and to be able to understand the word of truth, we have to study scripture.

That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? But, again, once I’ve read through it, I’m not sure what to do with it. How do I make the leap from just reading, to becoming equipped for “every good work?”

Well, I just read about the thing called “Inductive Bible Study” and I realize as I read through the steps, that I’d actually done it before, I just didn’t know the name. And it’s not hard or boring, in fact, it’s kind of fun!

I lived in Germany for a couple of years and during that time I spent Sabbath afternoons at the Servicemen’s Center in Frankfurt. It was run, during those years, by the most amazing couple, the Bowens. They always had something planned for Sabbath afternoon so that everybody didn’t just drift off and sleep all afternoon. One of the activities, that I really enjoyed, turned out to be “Inductive Bible Study.”

There are three steps involved in this method: Observation, Interpretation and Personalization. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? But it’s not anything you haven’t done on your own probably many times without knowing it.

Observation – That’s just the initial reading of a certain passage. We have to make sure we understand what the writer is actually trying to tell us. What are the setting and the circumstances and how are they important to the story.

One of Mrs. Bowen’s favorite stories to do this process with was the feeding of the five thousand. We’d all be sitting around the living room and we would talk about what had happened just before this miracle and how that might have affected what was going on. She asked questions like, “Why was Jesus in that particular place on that day?” “Why were the people there?”

Then we would move onto Interpretation. After we’d discussed the story for a few minutes, she’d have someone read the passage again and then she’d have us sit quietly for several minutes and imagine ourselves in that place and time. Mrs. Bowen would tell us to pick a character in the story and imagine ourselves as that character. It could be one of the main people in the story or you could invent a character for yourself. The important thing was to imagine ourselves in the story. What would we be seeing, hearing, tasting, and smelling. How would the character we picked feel and react in the setting.  Mrs. Bowen would ask for someone from the group to take a couple of minutes and share who the character they picked was, why they were in that particular setting that day and what happened to them while they were there.

You can’t imagine how interesting it was to listen to everybody’s story about their chosen character. Some folks chose to be disciples, some folks chose to be a person in the multitude, it didn’t matter.  Everybody’s story was so different and interesting.

First, imagining your own character’s thoughts and feelings really helped each of us understand the story a little bit better. Then, listening and sharing with the other folks in the room expanded our understanding and broadened our perspective of the story itself.

Personalization is the last step in the process. We called it “debriefing” but it was the same thing. Mrs. Bowen would have us go back around the room and we would each describe what we had learned from the exercise and how we could use what we’d learned in the next week.

Who knew studying the Bible could be so fun! It was a great way to spend a Sabbath afternoon and to learn more about Jesus. Most important of all, we took away an experience with Jesus that most of us still remember.

Studying the Bible does several things for us. It helps us to be more settled in the truth so that when the enemy tries to deceive us, we’re less likely to fall for his lies. We will have filled our hearts and minds with the truth. Another benefit is that we get a clearer picture of Jesus and who He really is.

Admitted, we can’t always do the exercise with a room full of people, but even if you do it alone, the Word of God has become part of you and has changed you for the better in some way.

Craig Brian Larson, editor of Preaching Today.com, relates an experience that demonstrates how we can be changed through studying the Word of God.

“Over our office lunch recently I visited with a fellow employee named Cindy and learned that her father taught music at Wheaton College and also coordinated its Artist Series. Those positions allowed him the privilege to meet celebrated musicians who were to perform at the College.
“George Szell, legendary music director of the Cleveland Orchestra, was one of the musical celebrities Cindy met while in her early teen years. Cindy's father introduced her to Szell and pointed out that she played the viola.
Ever the taskmaster, the visiting maestro put his fingers under her chin and lifted to see the left side of her jaw. ‘It doesn't look like she practices much,’ Szell said, making a serious point in a playful manner.
“As violinists and viola players know, the more you practice, the more the skin under the jaw where the violin is held is darkened. Disciplined, hard work leaves its mark.”[1]

When someone looks at me, can they tell that I spend time with Jesus? Can they see the mark of my time with Him? I hope so.

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[1] Craig Brian Larson, editor of PreachingToday.com

Fence-Sitters Anonymous

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about jobs that I believe I can and cannot do.  For example, I can be a great mediator, but I could never be a lawyer.  Why?  Because I want people to agree with each other, not to disagree, I want to find the common ground.  I have a couple of friends who used to call me and they’d each be on an extension and put me in the middle of a disagreement, just to see how long it took me to find the middle and come down squarely and securely on the fence between them.  Then they’d laugh at me, of course.  But that’s one of the things I do quite well.  Most of the time, I can see validity on both sides of an issue.  Being placed on a jury, for me, would be an absolute nightmare.  Okay, maybe not so much for me, but for the other eleven folks. 

With that in mind though, think about some of the jobs in the Bible that you’d be good at and not so good at.  Unfortunately, there aren’t many openings for diplomats in the Bible, so I’d be pretty much out of luck.  I hate to admit it, but the world of the Bible is pretty much a black and white world.  There is absolute right and absolute wrong, and very little gray area in between.  I think as humans we are much more comfortable in a world where we have a lot of gray.

Think about Ahab.  He looked at the world as one big gray area.  And he didn’t like confrontation either.  How can I tell, you ask?  He pretty much went wherever the wind blew.  If Jezebel wanted something, that was okay with him.  When he wanted the neighbor’s vineyard, he asked, he cajoled, he tried to scam him, but he didn’t demand it.  He went home and pouted until Jezebel got it for him.  Ahab Etook the easiest way through any issue…and look where it got him.

Jezebel, on the other hand, loved confrontation, well, as long as she won.  In her kingdom, it was her way or the highway…actually, it was her way or – gulp – death.  Bummer.

Enter, Elijah, with harsh words from God for Ahab and Jezebel.  Now there’s a guy I don’t envy.  Could there be a tougher job anywhere than Old Testament prophet?  Can you imagine how things would have ended if he had strolled into the ivory palace and negotiated with Ahab and Jezebel about what God wanted from them?  They would have laughed him out of the palace.  But they might not have decided he needed to be killed either. 

The problem is, there are times when somebody has to say the hard things.  Think about David and Nathan.  Suppose Nathan came before David and said something like, “Now King, sir, God has told me that you have made some unwise decisions recently and He’d like you to make those things right as soon as you find it convenient.  Once you’ve taken that then things will go along smoothly after that.”  Hmmm.  Do you think David would have taken Nathan seriously with an approach like that?

The uncomfortable truth is, sometimes we have to be told, straight out, in no uncertain terms, that we are walking (possibly running) in the wrong direction.  That was Elijah’s job in Jezreel.  He was there to tell Ahab and Jezebel that they needed to change their ways or really bad things were going to happen to them.  I actually think he almost made a change in Ahab once or twice, but it didn’t stick because Ahab wouldn’t stand up to Jezebel.  It was just easier to keep the peace that way.

How often do you and I just “go along” because it’s just easier?  What about when you’re sitting around with some friends and they start taking pot shots at a friend who isn’t there?  It’s easier to just laugh along with everybody, isn’t it?  I mean, you didn’t actually say anything about him (or her), you just didn’t get up and leave or take a stand to defend him.  They weren’t serious anyway, no harm done.  Right?  If you’d gotten up and walked out or defended him, they would have thought you were totally out of it.  Right?  Hmmm.

Has going along with the crowd ever ended well for anybody?  Think about it.  Lemmings come to mind in this instance.  The Israelites and the golden calf.  The crowd screaming, “Crucify Him.”  Come to think of it, if you’re following the crowd, you’re probably going the wrong direction.

How scary is that?  Look at the world around us.  Are we walking with the world, in the wrong direction?  Are we claiming we’re not walking with the world, but we’re fence-sitting because we don’t want to be noticed as different?  Do you realize that fence-sitting might be even worse?  Why?  Because we know better.  Ahab knew better, but he never took a stand, so in some ways, he was more evil than Jezebel.  What do you think?

Do you remember David Wilkerson?  He’s a Christian author from the ‘70’s.  The book I remember him for is The Cross and the Switchblade where he talks about coming out of the gang lifestyle.  I found an article that he wrote in 1988 where he warns against what he calls “The Doctrine of Jezebel”.  He talks about people who are selling out to Satan, and they’re not the people you are picturing right now.  Those who have sold out are not the drug addicts, the prostitutes or atheists, they’re people who are sitting in Christian churches all over the world.

What?   How can that be?  Wilkerson describes these folks as “human tumbleweeds riding the winds of doctrine.”  They are people who are looking for the easy way to salvation.  They want to be comforted, not convicted.  Wilkerson compares them to the people that Paul is talking about in 2 Timothy 4:3.  “…they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.”

Ahab and Jezebel surrounded themselves with prophets that told them exactly what they wanted to hear, and some Christians today find preachers that are preaching what they want to hear.  They want to hear that God wants to make them rich, that they’re basically good people and that following Jesus will be a peaceful happy experience.  The churches that teach what Wilkerson calls “prosperity doctrine” are packed, but what are these Christians learning about salvation?

And that’s where we need people like Nathan and Elijah and Jesus who never just let things slide because it was easier, or to keep from ruffling any feathers, or because they didn’t want people to think they were weird.  They told the truth no matter what people thought or what it cost them.  They didn’t preach what was comfortable or popular.  Consequently they were often uncomfortable and mostly unpopular.  They spoke black and white in a gray world.  They spoke the truth with an authority that no one could counter.

The question is, are you and I prepared to speak God’s truth, no matter what it costs—even if it’s not easy or popular?

“He who serves under the bloodstained banner of Immanuel will have that to do which will call for heroic effort and patient endurance. But the soldier of the cross stands unshrinkingly in the forefront of the battle. . . . He realizes his need of strength from above. The victories that he gains . . . cause him to lean more and more heavily on the Mighty One. Relying upon that Power, he is enabled to present the message of salvation so forcibly that it vibrates in other minds. . . .” E.G. White, Lift Him Up p.228

What do you think?  Can we do it?  Even if every fiber of my being struggles with stepping out of my comfort zone.  Even if it means I don’t get my Sabbath afternoon nap. 

I heard Luis Pallow on the radio recently make this point:  Do you realize that your neighbor or family member who has not turned his life over to Jesus is, at this moment, lost?  Isn’t that a terrifying thought?  That may be even scarier than the thought of somebody thinking I’m too religious, a goody- two-shoes, or a Jesus Freak. 

I think it’s time, and for those of you who, like me, are scared to death at the thought of speaking the truth about Jesus, let’s say these verses together:

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.   And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,…” Ephesians 6:10-19

Do you want to change your life?

Apparently so does everyone else on the planet. I did a “google search” and found literally millions of hits, not just with one search, but at least five more suggested searches were available – each with hundreds of millions of hits, combined. Now, I clearly did not look up every website, but I did look up a quite a few.
What I learned was extremely interesting. Apparently any number of things are capable of “changing your life.,” in a wide variety of lengths of time.


Truly fascinating! One lady has decided that the perfect time changing amount of time is 70 days (for women, anyway),. Computer programs will change your life; diets will change your life, along with lots and lots of books. One book, called The Intention Experiment, says that “Thought generates its own palpable energy that you can use to improve your life, to help others around you, and to change the world.” One gentleman, who is offering his services as a speaker at your business or organization, claims that all you have to do is take The Self-Empowerment Pledge. This pledge is made up of seven promises, one for each day of the week. Another individual has narrowed things down to just eight choices that you can make to change your life. You can change your life in seven days…for only $24.31. Hmmm. Maybe the 70 day one costs less? Ya think?
That’s the other thing. Almost every single life changing breakthroughs is going to cost money. For $19.41, you can find out how to change your life using feng shui. You can change your life through insight and honesty and facing your past. The program is called, “Living the Truth.” On another website, I learned from a gentleman who calls himself a metaphysical scientist (what do you think that is?) that all you have to do is name the top three things you want in life and then use your computer for ten minutes a day to get them. Oh! Here’s one that claims to be able to change your life in just ten seconds! Wow! I wonder how much that one costs?


Apparently there are 70 movies capable of changing your life, as is hypnotism, of course. Another pseudo-science book calls itself “A groundbreaking collaboration between neuroscience and Buddhism” and claims to tell us “how a new science reveals our extraordinary potential to transform ourselves.” Robots will change your life too. And this is my very, very favorite: “Change Your Signature, Change Your Life.” This “graphologist” (I think he just made that up) in India claims that changing your signature can improve family happiness, health, relationships; achieve your goals; increase your mental and physical compatibility; increase your energy; increase your ability to concentrate; get you a better job; overcome depression and disillusionment with life and save the family unit. Did you have any idea that your signature had that much to do with your life? Interesting…


So, what do all these life-changing methods have in common? The major things that jumped out at me were that all of these involve you making the changes in your life through your own strength of will, or by repeating certain words or carrying out certain tasks. And, of course, the fact that not one of these marketing ploys makes any reference to any human need for outside assistance. I just don’t believe I can wake up one morning, make a choice, say a pledge or sign my name differently and POOF! My life is changed. If things worked that way, what would we need God for? Ooooh, good question…


And, of course, that’s my point. God, working through His Word, is the only agent of change that we will ever need or that will ever work, and it won’t cost you a dime. A real bargain!


I know people who would argue long and hard on that point. They don’t believe that just reading the Bible is enough to change anyone’s life. They say that it’s too confusing, too archaic, even that parts of it are too brutal. What do you think? Well read these and then decide:


One man writes,

“After growing in an abusive home and thirty one years of drug and alcohol abuse I had reached a point, at the age of 43, at which I thought I would most likely die before ever knowing any kind of peace. With a counselor’s help, I was able to stay off drugs and alcohol for a year. At the end of that year I realized I was the same person, I had just removed the drugs and alcohol. I was still miserable…
“I decided to read the Bible to try and have a spiritual life. After reading the Bible I was no longer the same person…God had changed my heart! I was loved and forgiven! …Through reading the Bible I found a new life, through Bible study I am learning how to live out that new life!”

Is that a coincidence? Will reading just any book change your life? Let’s see.

“I was not raised to be a Christian. When I was a boy, my parents were searching spiritually, and they taught me about various forms of Christianity, about Zen Buddhism, about Siddha Yoga Hinduism, and about Islam. …I attended Jewish religious services more often than the services of any other religions. I read the Scriptures of all of these religions when I was a teenager. I also consulted the I Ching (the Confucian “Book of Changes”) nearly daily.
“…I was on the road to disaster – involved in sexual promiscuity, experimenting with soft drugs, drinking heavily and headed toward alcoholism, captivated by the occult, deeply depressed, and consumed by hostility toward those who had been near and dear to me. Weighed down under a crushing load of guilt and self-hatred, I was sitting one evening on a high window ledge preparing to jump off and kill myself, when Jesus spoke audibly to me…
“What he told me was that I should get a Bible and read it. What I read there about Jesus changed my life.” Joseph L. Cumming

One pastor tells this story:

“…in God’s hands people who read the Bible change. …I want to tell a story about a particular person, a guy named Sukan. Sukan was a Sufi Moslem studying for the priesthood. …He was taught all kinds of things about Christianity; about the things that made Christianity wrong and one of the things that he was taught was that Judas was converted into the image of Jesus and it was Judas that died on the cross instead of Jesus. And so God’s justice was done on this infidel.
“One day Sukan was walking along and saw a piece of paper blowing in the wind on the street and he reached down and picked it up and it turned out to be a portion of the gospel of Matthew. In it he read the words where Jesus is on the cross and he says, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ Now, as Sukan repeated that over and over to himself and thought about it, he thought to himself you know this can’t be Judas talking, because Judas would know why God had forsaken him. These are the words of a righteous man. And so as he thought about it, Sukan came to the point where he realized that it was actually Jesus who died on the cross and right there with just that little piece of the gospel of Matthew, Sukan made the decision to trust Jesus Christ as his Savior and follow him.”

In fact, there is a website called Answering Islam that has bunches of testimonies from dozens of people who have converted to Christianity from Islam. Really fascinating and wonderful stories. There’s one more story that I really want to share with you though. It’s about a man named Bruce Marchiano. If you don’t know who he is, he’s the man who played Jesus in The Gospel of Matthew. That is a DVD that came out a few years ago and tells the story of Christ word-for-word from Matthew. It is an amazing video. But so is this story. Marchiano was a struggling actor who read for the part of Christ and got it. He was a nominal Christian at best, but as he portrayed the character of Christ as Matthew wrote it, Marchiano met Christ and his life was absolutely changed. He tells his story in a really great book, In the Footsteps of Jesus. If you haven’t already, find it and read it. It truly shows the power of God’s Word on a person’s heart.

“But I think there is no stronger reason for urging you to spend much time with the Book of books than this: It will make Jesus more real to you than any earthly friend. He is always near. He always has time to visit. There is nothing you cannot talk over with Him; and He always understands, sympathizes, and gives the counsel needed. You and I may have Him walk so close beside us that He can hear our thoughts and feel our heartaches. He is the one Friend we can always keep. He is the one Friend we cannot spare; for truly, as He has said, 'Without Me you can do nothing.' He is the one Friend through whom you and I can do all things we should do to be true Christians; and the Bible is the book that will bring Him into our lives and make Him the closest and most real of all friends.
"Do you not love the Bible? If you do not, there is only one explanation: You do not know the Book. You have not been drinking deeply enough of its living waters to wash the dust of common things out of your throat. Drink deeply, and you will long for it as the 'hart pants after the water brooks.' Drink deeply, and you will seek it as the desert traveler seeks the cooling spring. Drink deeply, and you will find it the panacea for all human needs.” Andross, M, Alone With God, p19.

Told you so

How many times have you heard somebody say that Christianity and science are mutually exclusive?  Do you agree or disagree?  The Bible has great stories, beautify poetry, prophecy, and spiritual instruction …but does it tell us anything about science?  Should it tell us anything about science?

I’ve talked to quite a few people who believe that the Bible should not be considered when talking about science.  I’m not a scientist, so I may be completely wrong, but I want to share with you some of the things I found in my research.  I thought this stuff was really, REALLY interesting, and I had never known the vast majority of it before, so I learned a lot.  The amazing thing, for me, is that it’s taken so long to see what has been right in front of us all the time!

Back when I was in high school, I remember reading through Leviticus and being struck by how the health rules that God gave the children of Israel were so specific and so logical (by our thinking, progressive by the ancient world’s thinking).  One of the most basic (again, basic to us) things that God told Aaron to tell the children of Israel was the concept of washing…  That seems like such a small thing doesn’t it?  But do you know how long it has taken to catch on?  Believe it or not, from the time Leviticus 15:13 was written until the mid-1800’s, washing was not considered that important…not even for doctors! 

A doctor from Hungary named Ignaz Semmelweis, was the first guy to really put together the idea that ‘something’ was being passed from one patient to another by the doctor himself, because nobody thought it was important to wash his hands in-between.  He even wrote a book about, but his colleagues were so resistant to his ideas that they got him to retire.  Another person that you’ve heard of before started a similar campaign here in the United States, Oliver Wendell Holmes.  People didn’t take his advice much better than they did Dr. Semmelweis.  It wasn’t until Joseph Lister came along, that people started putting things together.  All they had to do was read the Bible, right?

In Deuteronomy 23:12,13, God told the Jews they needed to dig outhouses.  Again, you’d think that nobody would have to be told to do that, and yet, up until some time in the 1800’s, folks just dumped the sewage into the street!  EEEEWWWW!  Not surprisingly, millions of people died of diseases like cholera, dysentery and typhoid fever. 

Back in Leviticus19:11-22, God gave the Israelites a recipe for an anti-bacterial soap to use for cleansing themselves after they had touched a dead body.

And then there’s the whole quarantine system that God laid out in Leviticus 13.  Again, it was an awfully long time until we managed to stumble onto it on our own.

Still say the Bible doesn’t have anything to say about science?

BUT WAIT—THERE’S MORE!

What about earth science?  Well, We know that most folks up until the late 1400’s believe that the world was flat.  Actually I hear there are some folks who still believe it – The Flat Earth Society.  Anyway, if folks had just read Isaiah 40:22 and Job 26:10, they would have understood that the earth is round.  Oh, and how does the earth stay where it is?

Well, if you when the Greeks and Romans did, you believed that a titan held the earth on his back.  Others thought it was a turtle or an elephant that held the world on its back.  The Jews knew better though.  In Job 26:7, it says, “He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing.”  That’s an exceptionally accurate description for how the earth looks from space isn’t it?

Another thing the Bible describes is the way water moves from ground water to clouds to rain and back again.  Scientists call that the Hydrologic Cycle and they didn’t figure it out until the early 1600’s.  But Solomon knew.  In Ecclesiastes 1:7 he describes it.  We can read about it in Job 36:27-28 as well:  “For He draws up the drops of water, they distill rain from the mist, which the clouds pour down, they drip upon man abundantly.”  Wow!  That’s exactly how I described it when I taught my 4^th graders about the Water Cycle.  I didn’t know about this verse in Job then…and I couldn’t have used it if I had…but the textbook we used said the same thing—just not as poetically.

Did you know that God told Moses how to purify water?  In Exodus 15:25 we read, “Then he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord shoed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and waters became sweet.”  Well, since Moses’ time, chemists have learned how to do this.  They call it “ion exchange” and cellulose helps this process along.  Cellulose is the main thing that makes up plants, so the right king of tree could have turned undrinkable water into drinkable water.

Are you impressed yet?  Well, back in Job 28:25 we can read that air has mass or weight.  It wasn’t until 1640 that a guy names Evangelista Torricelli demonstrated that fact to the scientific world.

A guy named Matthew Maury was reading Psalms one day and decided to study the ocean to find what the psalmist called “the paths of the seas.”  He found them!  He became a world famous expert on shipping lanes and navigation.  A monument to him has this inscription:  “Matthew Fontaine Maury, Pathfinder of the Seas, the Genius Who First Snatched from the Ocean and Atmosphere the Secret of Their Laws.  His Inspiration, Holy Writ, Psalm 8:8, Psalm 107:23-24, and Ecclesiastes 1:6.”

Both Solomon and Jeremiah were inspired by God to describe the patterns that the winds of earth follow.  We know now that air currents follow certain paths: they move from the equator to the poles and back again.  In Ecclesiastes 1:6 and Jeremiah 10:13 describe that movement as only inspiration could have told them.

On the subject of stars, the Bible was 3,000 years ahead of earthly science.  Up until the 1600’s and Galileo’s invention of the telescope, different people thought they could absolutely number the stars – about 1,000 was the number they came up with.  Abraham knew better because God told him so in Genesis 15:5.

In Amos 5:8, Amos mentions the Pleiades.  He states that there are 7 stars in it.  But the up until the last century, we thought there were only 6 stars in the Pleiades.  Hmmm…how did Amos know there were 7?

Some other things that God told us in the Bible long before science figured out:

¯  Things are made of invisible elements (atoms)  (Hebrews 11:3)

¯  The rotation of the earth (Job 38:12)

¯  Every star is different (1 Corinthians 15:41)

¯  Men and dinosaurs lived at the same time (Job 40:15-24)

¯  Light moves (Job 38:19-20)

¯  Blood is the source of life and health (Leviticus 17:11)

¯  The ocean floor has mountains and valleys (2 Samuel 22:16; Jonah 2:6)

¯  The ocean has springs (Job 38:16)

And then there’s this one.  In Genesis 17:10-12, God told the Jews that all the male babies should be circumcised on their 8^th day of life.  Well, just in the last ½ century, a study in Boston found that Jewish women were 8.5 times less likely to contract cervical cancer than were other women.  And in a study just 4 years ago, doctors found that HPV (the virus linked to cervical cancer) in 3 times more prevalent in non-circumcised men.  And if that isn’t interesting enough, medical science now confirms that the 8^th day of life is the absolute best day to be cut.  On that day the blood clotting factor, prothrombin, is at its highest level!  Now I think that’s really exciting information.  God loves us so much that He has made our bodies and our planet just exactly the way they need to be for us to be happy and healthy.

Think about this:

“True education does not ignore the value of scientific knowledge or literary acquirements; but above information it values power; above power, goodness; above intellectual acquirements, character. The world does not so much need men of great intellect as of noble character. It needs men in whom ability is controlled by steadfast principleGod is the author of science. Scientific research opens to the mind vast fields of thought and information, enabling us to see God in His created worksIgnorance may try to support skepticism by appealing to science; but instead of upholding skepticism, true science contributes fresh evidences of the wisdom and power of God. Rightly understood, science and the written word agree, and each sheds light on the other. Together they lead us to God by teaching us something of the wise and beneficent laws through which He works.”—E.G.White CT 426 (1913). {2MCP 739}

OK, so we’ve established that the Bible is inspired.  The prophecies are true; the archeology is viable.  Can we stop no and say that the science of the Bible is any less reliable?  I know, I can be pretty simplistic, and I’m certainly not a scientist, and maybe I’m missing something important, but I’m convinced that the Bible can be trusted in all areas to be truthful and accurate.  What do you think?

Indiana Jones and the… What?

Do you remember the last Indiana Jones movie, The Last Crusade?  Indiana and his dad find “the Holy Grail”, that was the supposed to be the cup that Jesus and the disciples used at the last supper.  In the first Indiana Jones movie he finds the Ark of the Covenant.  Those are both archeological finds that would lend some real believability to the Bible wouldn’t it?  Nobody could say that it’s just a bunch of fables and myths if we found those could he?  Or could he?

Would truly convincing physical or written articles make any difference to us when it comes to whether or not we believe that the Bible is true?  Should it?

Think about Jesus said to Thomas when He appeared to His disciples.

“And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace, be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:26-29 KJVR)

It’s great to have confirmation, but according to Jesus, Himself, it’s even greater when we take His word for it.  Even so, God has given us so much proof that the Bible is reliable.

You know, not too long ago, most “experts” said that there was no historical proof of the things in the Bible, but in the mid-19^th century, an interest in archeology changed all that.  I went hunting on the internet and found some amazing things! Now a lot of this new information has to do with wordings and names of tribes and things that most people up, until that time, felt were either made up or experts thought were proof that the Bible was written later than it claimed to be.  There are also more concrete examples of archeology adding credence to the Bible.

According to one internet author, Mark McGee,

 “A century ago such familiar Biblical cities as Jericho, Samaria, Bethel, Shiloh, Bethshan, Gezer, Nineveh, Babylon, Ur and many otheres were shapeless mounds.  Critics scoffed at the Biblical record.  Within the last 100 years, all of these cities have been uncovered.  The importance of the discoveries is that the excavation has produced material which confirms the Scriptures point after point” Mark McGee

When archeologists, historians and scientists talked about Jericho a before, they described the account in Joshua 6 as mythical and impossible because Joshua said they walls collapsed outward making it possible for the Israelites to walk up and over the rubble into the city.  Now, according to some law of physics that I don’t understand, “walls of towns always fall inwards!”  I had no idea.  Anyway, archeologists have now proved that Joshua was absolutely right and could only have known that detail because he was there.   Bryant Wood is considered an authority on the archaeology of Jericho.  He writes about the details found in the ruins of Jericho that confirm the Bible account of the destruction of the city.  One of the most exciting is from a

 “German excavation of 1907-1909 found that on the north a short stretch of the lower city wall did not fall as everywhere else.  A portion of that mudbrick wall was still standing to a height of over two meters (eight feet).  What is more, there were houses built against the wall!  It is quite possible that this is where Rahab’s house was.” 

Isn’t that exciting?  I mean, I didn’t know that two days ago and I still believed that what the Bible said happened really happened, but it’s very, very cool to hear that the proof is there!

According to Bryant Wood,

“Jericho was once thought to be a ‘Bible problem’ because of the seeming disagreement between archaeology and the Bible.  When the archaeology is correctly interpreted, however, just the opposite is the case.  The archeology evidence supports the historical accuracy of the biblical account in every detail.  Every aspect of the story that could possibly be verified by the findings of archaeology is, in fact, verified.”

Fascinating, right?  Look what else archeologists have found:

And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem: And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. (1Kings 14:25-26 KJVR)

Well, that campaign is recorded on the walls of the Temple of Amun in Thebes, Egypt.  Other previously questioned occurrences that have now been confirmed through ancient tablets or palace walls include:  Moab’s revolt against Israel in 2 Kings 1:1; 3:4-27; the fall of Samaria to Assyria in 2 Kings 17:3-6,24; 18:9-11; Sargon II’s defeat of Ashdod in Isaiah 20:1; Sennacherib’s campaign against Judah found in 2 Kings 18:13-16; Sennacherib’s siege of Lachish (2 Kings 18:14,17); Sennacheribs’s assassination by his own sons (2 Kings 19:37); the fall of Nineveh predicted in Zephaniah 2:13-15; the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:10-14;  King Jehoiachin’s captivity in Babylon (2 Kings 24:15-16);  the Fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians found in Daniel 5:30-31; the freeing of the Babylonian captives by Cyrus the Great (Ezra 1:1-4; 6:3-4); the Jews being forced out of Rome by Claudius in 41-54 AD (Acts 18:2)  and, of course, the existence of Jesus Christ.

Did you know that we now have archeological proof that Abraham lived in Palestine?  Some historians thought for a while that he lived in Arabia or that he was a completely fictitious character.  But, in 918 B.C., Pharaoh Shishak (they think this was Ramses II) wrote Abraham’s name on the walls of his temple in Karnack.

Did you know that archeologists have found a tomb in Shechem that holds a mummy and an Egyptian official’s sword…could it be Joseph?  Or is it just a coincidence?

Check this out:

“Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion: the same is the city of David. And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites,…” (2Sa 5:7-8 KJVR)

Well, historians believe that Joab climbing up those drain pipes to get into Jerusalem was just part of a legend about a great soldier, king and army.  BUT! A team of archeologists has excavated the area and has found the water pipes that Joab climbed!  Very, very cool.

And then there’s this:

a British Egyptologist named David Rohl in A Test of Time (I’m not sure whether this is an article or a book) has managed to identify the “abandoned city of the Israelite slaves (called Avaris), the death pits from the tenth plague and Joseph’s original tomb and home.”

You know, since I didn’t know that all of this proof existed before this week, I’ll go on taking these events as having really happened like I always have.  But, at the same time, it’s very exciting to have such a complete, extra-Biblical (as the writers of these articles say) historical record.  It’s kind of like a, “See, I told you so” kind of moment.  Archeologists, themselves have quite a lot to say about the evidence that they have found.  Put very simply by Nelson Gluek, a Jewish scholar and archeologist:

“To date no archeological discovery has ever controverted a single, properly understood biblical statement.”  

Hmmm.

Nice as that is, though, what if something looks like it contradicts the Bible?  Does our belief in the Bible and God crumble?  We can’t pin our entire belief system on those extra-Biblical proofs.  And, to be honest, I’m pretty sure that’s not the reason God gave us the Bible.  Ellen White reminds us that:

“These things were not written merely that we might read and wonder, but that the same faith which wrought in God's servants of old might work in us. In no less marked a manner than He wrought then will He work now wherever there are hearts of faith to be channels of His power. Read…the story of the four Hebrew children, and… [realize] …the influence for good that was exerted in Daniel's time because of strict adherence to principle.”{CG 43}

We can get all wrapped up in authenticity, history, reliability and whatever else, but when it comes right down to it – if you don’t want to believe in God, then you won’t believe no matter how much proof someone shows you.  And, if you choose to believe in God, then all the proof in the world doesn’t matter.

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”(Joshua 24:15 KJVR)