BiblicalInsights.net

     Lee Strobel in his book, The Case For Christ, sets forth the evidence for the truth about the life of Christ, i.e. His death, burial and resurrection.  Strobel gives the results of thirteen interviews from a variety of biblical scholars each proficient in their respective fields of study.  One of the interviews was with John McRay who specializes in biblical archaeology.  This interview focused on the archaeological support for the accuracy of the New Testament documents.  Strobel writes, “One promient archaeologist carefully examined Luke’s references to thirty-two countries, fifty-four cities, and nine islands, finding not a single mistake” (Strobel, p. 98 (quoting from Geisler and Howe, When Critics Ask, 385).
     Contrast this fact with the Book of Mormon.  Archaeology has repeatedly failed to substantiate the claims of the Book of Mormon.  No Book of Mormon cities have ever been located.  No Book of Mormon persons,  places, nations or names have ever been found.  No Book of Mormon artifacts have ever been found.  No Book of Mormon inscriptions have ever been found.  Nothing which demonstrates the Book of Mormon is anything other than myth or invention has ever been found (Strobel, p. 107).
     This is an amazing contrast.  Where the New Testament can be tested for accuracy, archaeology has verified its contents.  Whereas, the Book of Mormon has no archaeological support.  The New Testament is clearly established as being truthful.  The Book of Mormon is merely myth!

     Tommy Newberry gives an interesting assessment of the type of thinking that destroys joy in his book, The 4:8 Principle.  The book is based upon Philippians 4:8 and stresses positive thinking over negative thinking.  Under the heading, Head Games,he mentions RAT’s (really awful thoughts).  RAT’s terrorize your potential for joy (p. 107).  He then lists some of these negative thinking patterns.
     –Amplifiers.  Amplifiers magnify unpleasant situations with words like: always, never, no one, every time, etc.  These words are distortions of the truth and pervert perceptions. 
     –Feelers.  Feelers accept negative feelings as true without questioning them.  Feelings are no substitute for the truth.  When feelings are based upon perverted perceptions the result is negative conduct.
     –Guessers.  Guessers pretend they know what other people are thinking, and then they assume the worse ahead of time (p. 107).  This fuels negativity.
     –Exaggerators.  Exaggerators transform mole hills into mountains.  They use words like horrible, worst, ruined, shocked, stunned, devastated, and outraged.  They, too, distort reality.
     –Identifiers.  Indentifiers inject harmless events with personal meaning.  They overestimate how an event is related to them.  They take things too personally and interpret negative events as personal attacks.
     –Forecasters.  Forecasters predict worst case scenarios.  They are the doom and gloom group.
     –Cynics.  Cynics find what is wrong even if it is the only thing wrong! (p. 108).  Despite the good, they use their mental radar to see the bad.
     –Blamers.  Blamers point the finger at someone else for their own problems.  Blaming others liberates them from personal responsibility for their attitudes and actions.
     –Justifiers.  Justifiers remind themselves of all the reasons why they are entitled to feel negative emotions or have a negative outburst. (p. 109).
     These RATs must be eliminated from our thinking if we are going to experience the joy that God intends for our lives.  Joy is “an outward sign of inward faith in God’s promises” (p. 42).  Joy is connected to spiritual relationship with God.  If there is no spiritual connection with God, then there can be no real joy.  “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice”  (Phil. 4:4).

     The following poem was written by Nancy Merical.  It is titled, “Tapestry.”  I found this poem in Ideals, Vol. 54, NO. 4, Sept. 1997.  Many have requested it from me, so I decided to put it on my blog.
     We weave our cloth of life with threads
     Of hours and days we’re given
     And make a pattern that reflects
     The face of God in heaven.
     He gives us days of greatest joy
     That cast a lovely hue.
     But days of sorrow we must bear
     For darker colors too.
     Some days have trials woven in
     That give our cloth its strength,
     So other days that are misused
     Won’t cause a tear or rent.
     Friends add texture to our cloth
     And shining highlights leave:
     New ones silver, old ones gold
     Affect the warp and weave.
     Faith is the shuttle we employ
     To weave a better cloth,
     And love we use to weave it too;
     Love makes it smooth and soft.
     Some days we weave silken threads
     And some days coarse and rough;
     One day’s threads are stout and strong,
     Another’s softest fluff.
     But when our cloth of life is woven
     And taken from the frame,
     It is unique, one of a kind;
     None other is the same.
     For though the same days we are given,
     We use them differently
     And make a pattern all our own
     In God’s great tapestry.

     Scot McKnight recently wrote an article that appeared in Christianity Today, April, 2010 that focused on studies of the historical Jesus.  At the beginning of the article, The ‘Real’ Jesus, he related a story about the first day of his class on Jesus of Nazareth.  Usually, he gives a standardized psychological test divided into two parts.  He says, “The results are nothing short of astounding.” 
     I’ll let him describe what happens.  “The first part is about Jesus.  It asks students to imagine Jesus’ personality, with questions such as, “Does he prefer to go his own way rather than act by the rules?” and “Is he a worrier?”  The second part asks the same questions of the students, but instead of “Is he a worrier?” it asks, “Are you a worrier?”  The test is not about right or wrong answers, nor is it designed to help students understand Jesus.  Instead, if given to enough people, the test will reveal that we all think Jesus is like us.  Introverts think Jesus is introverted, for example, and, on the basis of the same questions, extroverts think Jesus is extroverted” (p. 23).
     McKnight reveals that we tend to make Jesus into our own image rather than transforming our lives by becoming like Him.  We would rather change Jesus than change ourselves to conform to His image!  Yet, discipleship is all about being like Jesus.  Here are a few passages of Scripture to think about.  Matthew 16:24-25, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it:  and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”  When we lose our will to the will of God we can become one with Him.  I Peter 1:21-23, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.”
     The real Jesus is revealed in the Scriptures.  Could a more beautiful depiction of Jesus be given than that found in Isaiah 53 in the prophecy of the Suffering Servant?  Could a more detailed understanding of Jesus be gained by studying anything other than the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?  These sacred records depict Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  He is our savior and Lord.  Why not spend some time reading these sacred accounts of the life of Jesus and enhance your own understanding of who Jesus really is?  Perhaps if you discover the real Jesus, you will also discover the true path for your own life.

     As a follow-up to the previous blog, I wanted to give you some information from the book Already Gone written by Ken Ham and Britt Beemer.  A survey of 1,000 20-somethings who regularly attended church as children and teens, were asked, “Did you often attend Sunday School?”  In reply, 61 percent said yes; and 39 percent said no.  The survey found that “Sunday school is actually more likely to be detrimental to the spiritual and moral health of our children” (p. 38).  Children who regularly attend Sunday School are actually:
     1.  More likely NOT to believe that all the accounts/stories in the Bible are true/accurate.
     2.  More likely to doubt the Bible because it was written by men.
     3.  More likely to doubt the Bible because it was not translated correctly.
    4.  More likely to defend premarital sex.
     5.  More likely to defend that abortion should continue to be legal.
     6.  More likely to accept that gay marriage should be legal.
     7.  More likely to believe that God used evolution to change one kind of animal into another.
     8.  More likely NOT to believe the earth is less than 10,000 years old.
     9.  More likely to question the Bible because they believe the earth is not less than 10,000 years old.
    10.  More likely to doubt the Bible because of secular dates of billions of years for the age of the earth.
    11.  More likely to have heard a minister/Sunday school teacher teach Christians could believe in millions/billions of years.
    12.  More likely to question the earth is young and the days of creation are 24 hours each.
    13.  More likely to believe that dinosaurs died out before people were on the planet.
    14.  More likely to view the Church as hypocritical.
    15.  More likely to have become anti-church through the years.
    16.  More likely to believe that good people don’t need to go to church.    (see p. 39 of Already Gone)
     Belief in the Bible as the Word of God is diminshing among many young people, even those who have attended Bible classes or Sunday School.  These young people are rejecting the historical accuracy of the Bible.  They are rejecting the inspiration and authority of the Word of God.  Why?  Secular humanism (denial of God and His Word) and postmodernism (rejection of an objective standard of truth) have taken their toll on the faith of many children.  What they are taught in the classrooms of our schools is slowly winning out over what they are taught in Bible classes. 
     What can we do about this situation?  Spiritual leaders must continue to teach and to defend the Word of God.  We must be able to prove the case for the inspiration and authority of God’s Word.  Bible classes must not only teach the content of Scripture, but must also provide evidence for the veracity of Scripture.  Bible classes must not be “play time” and “chat times.”  They need to be rooted and grounded in Scripture with an emphasis on the evidences that show Scripture to be valid and believable.

     I have just uploaded a new book review.  The book is titled, Already Gone and is written by Ken Ham and Britt Beemer with collaborator Todd Hillard.  This book explores the reasons why 20 somethings are leaving mainline religious groups and becoming inactive.  One thousand individuals were surveyed from fifteen different religious groups including some from the church of Christ. Two different groups of those becoming inactive were discovered.  One of these groups did not have faith in the Bible’s historical record of events and another lost confidence in churches that did not live the Word of God.  Ham and Beemer discovered that young people were buying into secular humanism and postmodernism (relevancy of truth, feelings over reason). 
    The authors recommend a remedy of teaching the Word of God, defending the Word of God and living the Word of God.  This book is worth reading for an understanding of how secular humanism and postmodernism undermine confidence in God’s Word.