Read the Bible Yo

 Let's start with a little game. Below are 10 statements. As you read each one, write down whether you think its a true biblical teaching or false teaching. You don't have to explain why you think its true or false, just determine which it is.

Things the Bible Teaches...??

1. Most people are basically good.

2. God accepts the worship of all religions.

3. The OT Law (Law of Moses) condemns children to death for cursing their parents.

4. Jesus was the first and greatest being created by God the Father.

5. Sin entered the world when Eve ate an apple from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

6. All people are created in the image of God and He loves them as His children.

7. Money is the root of all evil.

8. All you have to do to be saved is ask Jesus into your heart.

9. God will never give you more than you can handle.

10. God helps those who helps themselves.

Did you figure out which ones are true and which are false? What if I told you that only ONE of those statements is a true biblical teaching, and its not the one you think it is. The answer key (with an explanation for each) is in the comment section if you're curious.

If you got a bunch of them wrong, don't feel too bad, the wording got a little tricky and I even tricked some of the leaders last night with those statements. If you somehow got them all right, or came close, I am willing to bet that you were able to figure it out based on one thing: you've read the Bible.

Answer me this: have you ever felt like you can't talk about God because you don't know enough? Or have you felt like you can't talk about God because someone may ask you a question that you don't know how to answer? Or because you just don't know what to say?

How do we fix this? How can we know more? Where can we find answers? How can we know what to say?

The answer is simple: by reading the Bible. If you take nothing else away from any of my messages, take this: READ THE BIBLE. Know what it says. Consume it like New England Clam Chowder from the Cheesecake Factory after a 5-day fast (there's a story there). Take it in like cool water after a long summer day in the hot sun. Get lost in the Word of God like when you get stuck scrolling through TikTok until 4 in the morning.

Read.

The.

Bible.

Why is it so important for Christian's to read and know the Bible? Some of you know that I've recently gotten really into TikTok (my wife tells me I'm obsessed). Over the last month I've been interacting with a lot of false teaching (FROM CHRISTIANS) that has come across my For You page. I never knew how bad it was out there, even just within Christian circles. People who have a very poor understanding of the Bible are teaching whatever they want and calling it biblical. Then, people who don't know the Bible very well are believing them! This is a problem. When we don't know the Bible very well, we are going to fall into a lot of false teaching.

In Psalm 1, David talks about the blessing that comes to those who meditate on God's Word every day - it leads us to righteousness and keeps us close to God. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul tells Timothy "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."

This letter, naturally, comes after 1 Timothy 4:8, where Paul tells Timothy "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."

We can see benefits to physical training. It keeps our body in good shape, allowing us to have a higher quality of life and live longer. There is value to that. But Paul here is saying that training in godliness has MUCH GREATER VALUE, holding promise both for this life, and the life we will spend in eternity with God. And how do we train in godliness? By reading Scripture. By spending time in the Word of God. It is what trains us to live as God wants us to live, and to draw near to Him in all things.

When we invest our time in the Bible like we are commanded to do, our minds are changed, our behaviors change, our lives change, our words change, our understanding is changed, and we are better able to identify false teaching. These are amazing benefits for this life, and as we draw near to God, these hold benefits for eternity as well.

So read the Bible. Meditate on it. Think about it. Memorize it. Act on it. The more we read the Bible, the more we will know what to say when people ask us questions. The more we read the Bible, the more we will know and be able to identify false teachings. The more we read the Bible, the more we will talk to people about the Gospel and faith in Jesus. This is because it is "out of the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45). What we put into our hearts and minds is what is going to come out of it. So the more time we spend in the Word of God, the more the Word of God will come out in our daily lives.

If you want to grow in your faith, to grow closer to God, and to have everlasting benefits in both this life and the life to come: Read the Bible.

The Value of Life - A Biblical Perspective

 Last night we touched on a sensitive topic, abortion. Now, we didn't go into the political arguments of "Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice" or into whether or not abortion should be legal in America. No, our focus was simply on getting a biblical perspective on human life. While the Bible does not ever use the word "abortion", by spending time studying His Word, we can get an idea of God's view of human life and allow that to color our perspective on the issue of abortion. So, as we dive into Scripture we're going to attempt to answer 4 questions from a biblical perspective: 1) When does human life begin? 2) What is the value of human life? 3) What constitutes murder? and 4) Who has the authority (right) to take human life and under what circumstances?

Each question is bolded and I have included a summary answer to each question toward the end. My hope is that as you read God's Word you will come to an understanding of how He views human life and allow that to transform your thinking.

When does human life begin?

Genesis 2:7 - "...then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature."

This is the go-to verse for people trying to say that human life begins at first breath - Adam wasn't considered a living creature until after God breathed life into him. The argument then goes for everyone else, we aren't considered fully alive (or having a soul) until we take our first breath after being born. However, we need to remember that Adam is a special case. No other person alive since Adam has been made of dust from the ground - we were born from our mothers. Since Adam is a special case, we cannot base the beginning point for every human life on the example of his creation. So let's keep looking.

Isaiah 44:2 - "Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen."

Jeremiah 1:5 - "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were even born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."

Job 31:15 - "Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did he not fashion us in the womb?"

Psalm 139:13-16 - "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."

What do all of these verses have in common? They all speak of an individuality, a specialness, a foreknowledge of God of each person in the womb. God formed them, hand-crafted them, and in Psalms it mentions that God knew of all of the days of David's life before he was even formed in the womb. These verses point to there being human life before birth, and depending on how you want to interpret God's foreknowledge, human life even before conception (I don't take it that far personally, but I will share my personal views below). What we can say definitively in answer to the question is that the Bible views human life as beginning before birth.

What is the value of human life?

Genesis 1:27 - "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

This is the description of God's creation of mankind. It is starkly different than His creation of any of the other animals, as He definitely sets mankind apart from the rest of creation. He goes so far as to give mankind dominion over the earth as stewards (caretakers) of His creation. Now, when it says mankind is made in God's image, it does not mean that we somehow look like Him physically. God is not a physical being (although He can enter the physical world). God is spirit, which means we also have a spirit, a soul. That is my interpretation of being made in the image of God - we have a soul. Animals do not have souls, we do. That sets us apart from the animals and establishes a unique relationship with our Creator.

As the Creator of all things, God has a the highest view of Himself (and He is worthy of the highest view, for everything else, being made by Him, is beneath Him). If He has such a high view of Himself, and we are made in His image, what does that mean for us? It means He has a high view of us as well.

Luke 12:24 - "Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouses nor barns, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!"

This supports the view that we are of a higher value to God than the animals.

This high view of the value of human life is reflected in all of the laws that God established for Israel to protect human life. Murder was a big no-no, and made the top 10 of God's commandments. This brings us to the next question:

What constitutes murder?

Exodus 20:13 - "You shall not murder."

Murder here is the intentional killing of an innocent person. The original Hebrew word for murder which is used in the commandment also includes accidental killing as a result of carelessness or negligence. Let me give you an example.

Say you are driving on the highway, paying attention to the road as you should, and huge gust of wind pushes your car into the car next to you, causing an accident. If the person in the other cars dies as a result, you are not at fault and you are not guilty of breaking the commandment to not murder. However, if you are driving on the highway and you're texting (or distracted in some other way) and your car drifts into the car next to you, causing an accident and killing the person in that car, then you are guilty of breaking the commandment. You were being careless as a driver and your carelessness caused that other person's death. You may not have intended to kill them, but they died as a result fo your carelessness - this breaks the commandment. And finally, of course, if you intentionally swerve your car into the other with the intent to kill the person in that car, and you succeed - you've broken the commandment.

So then, a biblical understanding of murder is not only the intentional killing of an innocent person, but also the unintentional killing of another person through carelessness or negligence. God does not want us going around killing people, on purpose or by accident, which is why He established this law.

Proverbs 6:16-19 - "There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers."

This is where we see the distinction about "innocent blood". But what does it mean for someone to be innocent? In Romans, Paul talks about how no one is innocent before God - we have all sinned and fallen short of His glory. However, when we talk about shedding innocent blood, we are talking about innocence in the eyes of man. Someone who has done you no harm is considered innocent - they aren't deserving of punishment because they haven't done anything wrong to earn punishment. They certainly don't deserve death. If, however, someone has wronged you in some way (say, they mugged you and stole your wallet), well then they are deserving of some kind of punishment (not death, but definitely recompense).

The next set of verses will help explain this, as well as answer the next question. As for murder, hopefully you have gotten the sense that biblical murder is the intentional taking of an innocent human life, and includes killing as a result of carelessness or negligence.

Who has the authority (right) to take human life and under what circumstances?

Leviticus 24:17, 21 - "Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. ... Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death."

This law highlights two things: the idea of "a life for a life" and the affirmation that human life is of more value in God's eyes than animals.

Exodus 21:12-14 - "Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die."

Here we get some clarifications for the "life for a life". There is a difference made between pre-meditated murder and what appears to be a crime of passion. If the murderer planned ahead of time to kill another, he must forfeit his life. If it was an accident or happened in the heat of the moment, then the killer could flee to a city of refuge for a time and be safe.

Exodus 21:22-25 - "When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her child come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe."

Now we're seeing some specific examples. If a pregnant woman gets hit, even if there is no harm, the aggressor has to pay a fine. This demonstrates that even threatening the life of the woman or the child in such a way is not good in the eyes of God. And if harm comes to either the woman or the unborn baby, the aggressor has to pay in kind. If there is injury, he must suffer the same injury. If there is death, he must forfeit his life. Once again we see a high value placed on human life (and this time even on the lives of the unborn), so that those who disregard that value are punished in kind.

Genesis 9:5-6 - "And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning, for the life of man. 'Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.'"

First, we see here that each person will be required to give an account of his life and his actions before God. That's it means for God to require a reckoning. Second, we see why "a life for a life" is the way that it is - because every person, from the unborn to the elderly, is made in the image of God and therefore has a high value in God's eyes.

Now, who said these things and who made these laws? God. God created all life, and it is His right to take it away. He established these laws so to protect innocent lives from being trampled by evil people. If a person takes it upon themselves to decide who lives or dies, apart from the Word of God, they forfeit their own life.

So, to answer this last question: God is the one who has the authority/right to take human life, and He has established laws for specific circumstances when it is okay for humans to take the lives of other humans. In every case we've looked at so far, it is only okay for humans to take the life of someone who has unlawfully taken other human life. This is where find validation for the death penalty, but only in cases of murder and disregard for the value of human life. "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image."

To sum up:

1. When does life begin? Before birth - the unborn are considered human lives and are valued by God.

2. What is the value of human life? Extremely high. Every person, from the unborn to the elderly, is made in the image of God and therefore is highly valued by God.

3. What constitutes murder? The intentional killing of innocent people, or the unintentional killing of innocent people as a result of carelessness or negligence.

4. Who has the authority/right to take human life? God has the authority, and He has given this authority to mankind only in situations where someone is guilty of murder (or heinous sins against God Himself, which we did not discuss in this post). These situations require witnesses and judges to be involved, so that we can't just go around killing whoever we want just because we think they deserve it.

When it comes to issue of abortion, you will have to decide for yourself what you believe. However, I want to challenge you that whatever decision you come to, make sure that you can back up that belief with the Word of God. If we come to believe things that go against the Bible's teachings, then we are going against God, and that is the opposite of what Christians are called to do.

My personal conviction, and you do not have to agree with this 100%, is that human life begins at fertilization (when the sperm and the egg combine, and a new set of DNA is created). This would mean that any form of abortion (from "Plan B" to late-term termination of the pregnancy) is murder, because it is the intentional taking of innocent human life. I do not believe that rape justifies abortion, because the unborn baby, though a result of sin, is not deserving of the punishment for that sin. I do make a distinction in the case of medical emergencies/complications which put the life of the mother at risk, because God cares about both lives, and in those cases I think it is within the rights of the mother to decide which life to save if only one can be saved. Like any other sin, I believe abortion can be forgiven in Christ Jesus, but it has horrific consequences in this life (one being the killing of the unborn child). These are my convictions based on the verses above as well as other passages of Scripture, and I urge you to look at these passages and decide for yourself what to believe about this.

If you have questions, you can ask them in the comments below. Or, if you have my contact info, you can ask me directly and I would be more than willing to talk with you further about this.

There's No Time

 This one is coming out a bit later than usual, but that's ok, because the important thing is that you are able to look back and see what we've talked about this year. Our group is still recovering from all the sickness we experienced over Christmas Break, and Omicron is just sweeping across America faster than the latest broom. lease stay safe out there yall. Also, get a sense of humor because I'm going to guess that you aren't laughing and that joke was literal gold.

So last week we looked at a simple passage (super well-known, too) within the context of a story I shared. So about 6 years ago I worked at a bio-analytical lab as a kind of hyped up stockboy (no, I didn't do any bio-analyzing). While there I met a guy we'll call Eddy, who was about the same age as me. I was one of a few Christians in the workplace, but only two of us spent much time talking about our faith. Well, Eddy was what the church might call a seeker. He would regularly ask questions about our faith and about the Bible, and we would talk to him about those questions. But, I never took the opportunity to unpack the Gospel. 1. He never directly asked about it, 2. I didn't want to be accused of imposing my faith on him and making future conversations awkward, and 3. I always assumed I would have an opportunity in the future. One Monday morning I came in to work and Eddy wasn't there. No one knew why, and honestly we didn't think much of it because people miss a day of work all the time (sickness, emergencies, etc.). It wasn't until a couple days later that we found out the sad truth - Eddy had been killed in a car accident over the weekend. Just like that, he was gone. He knew a little bit about the Bible from our conversations, and he knew a little bit about God, but I don't think he ever heard the Gospel message about Jesus.

At the end of the Gospel of Matthew Jesus says this to His disciples: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)

The will of God, for me and for you, is to go and make disciples. Breaking that down: we are to tell people about their need for a Savior and about Jesus, the Savior. Those who repent and believe we are to baptize into the church and teach them to obey what God commands in the Bible.

These are some simple bullet points for sharing the Gospel:

1. People are stuck in sin and are destined for death.

2. Jesus (who is God in the flesh) came and died for our sin so that we could be forgiven.

3. When we believe in Jesus, we repent (turn away from) of our sin and follow Him.

4. All those who confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead will be saved.

5. Stuck in sin - sin earns death - Jesus died for sin - we believe in Him and are saved

I never gave Eddy a chance to believe and follow Jesus. Is it possible someone else told him about Jesus? Yes, it is possible. But I didn't follow the mission I've been given by Jesus - which is to make disciples.

The truth is, we have no idea what tomorrow holds. We don't know how much time we have left and we certainly don't know how much time our friends have left. SO LET US NOT WASTE OUR TIME.

I have two questions for you:

1. If you died tonight, do you know where you're going?

Take a long second to think about that. If you were to die tonight, do you truly believe that you're going to be with God forever?

2. If your friends died tonight, do you know where they're going?

I am willing to bet that all of you have some non-Christians friends or family. The Bible teaches us that those who do not believe in Jesus will be separated from God forever. So, what is keeping you from talking to them about Jesus? Is it fear that they will stop being your friend? Worry that it will be awkward? Uncertainty about what to say or how to start the conversation?

We can't let these things get in the way of talking to people about Jesus. He is their only hope, and God has placed YOU in their lives to share the Gospel with them. Our mission is urgent, because we just do not know how much time anyone has left. If you know that your friends or family are not believers, you have to at least give them a chance to believe. Below are just a few suggestions for ways to start the conversation or prepare for a conversation about faith in Jesus:

1. Ask what the other person believes. This gets a spiritual conversation going, and can very easily lead to you sharing what you believe. The bonus of this is you get to see their perspective and their response can show you how much they've thought about this kind of thing.

2. Ask "What do you think happens when we die?" Once again, it gets the conversation started with their perspective, opening up opportunities for you to respond with your perspective.

3. Ask them if there is anything you can pray for them for. This doesn't always go well, but most people are willing to accept prayer. This can also be a subtle way of letting them know that you have faith in a higher power, even they don't explicitly know Who you are praying to at first.

4. The blunt approach: Ask if they would be willing to hear about Jesus, or just jump right in to talking through the Gospel.

5. Share your testimony, your story of believing in Jesus. Try to keep it shorter than about 5 minutes if you can, and then as they ask questions (and hopefully they do) you can go deeper into certain areas. Always bring it back to salvation through faith in Jesus.

6. Ask if they would be willing to read the Bible with you. I've seen some people in our church do this with great success - people might be more willing than you give them credit. The cool thing about this approach is that you get to read the Bible alongside them, and they might ask questions that you had never even considered - leading to a pursuit of the truth and discovery of knowledge about God. This approach allows the Word of God to speak for itself.

7. Pray continually for opportunities to talk about Jesus (especially with specific people in mind), then look for those opportunities and DO NOT IGNORE THEM. When we pray about it, our eyes are more open to see opportunities as God brings them to us.

8. Look for different illustrations to use in explaining the Gospel (Romans Road, The Chasm, The Judge, CRU has some great illustrations to use). These can help you to know what to say or to better explain what you're trying to say in a conversation.

9. Bring someone with you. Making disciples is not a solo-mission. We don't have to do it by ourselves, and we're actually not even called to do it alone! The example set for us by Jesus was to go in pairs and work together. So find another Christian to go with you and work together in making disciples.

10. Read the Bible. The more we know about God and His Word, the easier it is to talk about Jesus with others. Start small, just share a verse you were reading recently and talk about how God impacted your life through that verse. It doesn't need to be an hour-long conversation for it to have a lasting impact on your friends and family.

I am praying for you all and my hope is that you will be steadfast in your faith and diligent in the mission we have all been given.

New Year, Same Questions

 Hey yall, so we just started the new year (2022 woot woot) and we had our first Summit of the year last night. As I expected, attendance was low. Omicron is running rampant through our area (my wife and I both had it through Christmas break and now the rest of my family has it) and I even advised yall that if you weren't feeling well you shouldn't come. This is okay. We missed you and we pray that God restores your health and well-being, if it be His will.

So, since we had such a small group, I decided to change up the message. Rather than sharing the message I had prepared (which was an awesome message I think and you'll get to hear it next week) I decided to engage in an interactive discussion. I opened it up to those who were there to ask the questions they had related to faith and the Bible. Of course, there were some jokes, we laughed, we had fun with it. Some of the questions asked were:

1. Are there aliens and would their existence debunk the Bible? We talked about this and concluded that it is totally within God's power to have created aliens. The Bible makes no mention of extra-terrestrial life, and we run into some theological problems if there is intelligent life out there. For example, that would mean they are stuck in a sin-filled and decaying universe because of Adam and Eve's sin, even though they have absolutely no connection to or knowledge of our planet. On top of this, part of what makes Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross work for us is that He was a man. If there are aliens, they would not be able to find salvation through Jesus Christ. All of this being said, I think it is entirely possible that there could be life out there in the universe, but I do not believe there is intelligent life. If I'm wrong, and there are intelligent aliens out there, that doesn't mean the Bible is wrong, it just means there are things we didn't know before and things that God did not reveal to us through the Bible. Don't let aliens shake your faith. =)

2. How tall was Jesus? Apparently, the average height of Jews 2,000 years ago was around 5'5". We don't know exactly what Jesus looked like, and its really not important, but He isn't described as being particularly taller or shorter than others, so He was probably between 5'3" and 5'7". Again, we don't know so don't let that shake your faith.

3. Are there animals in Heaven (and specifically pets)? This actually got asked a couple of months ago, but we talked through it again. The short answer is, we don't know. God doesn't take the time to lay out exactly how everything is going to be when we are with Him for eternity, so we can only speculate. In Revelation John describes the creation of a new heaven and a new earth. We think this will probably be a restored and perfected version of the original creation, and since that one included animals, it would make sense that there would be animals in the new earth. However, I agree with something Dr. Jason Lisle talked about, which is that it won't be the same animals that we have today. The reason for this is that the animals we see today are all part of the decaying world we live in (just like us). Since we, who are made in the image of God, will be resurrected with new glorified bodies, it would make sense that the animals in the new earth would be restored to a perfect state. To make that simpler, I believe there will be animals in the new earth, but I don't believe any of our pets will be there. Now, Dr. Lisle also shared that he believes it is within God's power to bring our pets to the new earth, so if you asked God to bring your pet back, He could do that. At the end of the day, we don't know, so as I have been saying - don't let this shake your faith.

4. The last question was one that I asked: what is the purpose of church? I was amazed and extremely encouraged to hear some of you recall what we had talked almost two years ago from Acts 2:42-47.

"42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

These were the practices of the early church. The main part of our discussion was about what would happen if a Christian became separated from the church. They would be more easily tempted away from their faith, they would be more easily discouraged and overwhelmed by the world, and they would find it much harder to keep following Jesus. Being a part of a local church allows us to have community with fellow believers, to learn more about our faith, the Bible, and God, and to be encouraged in our walk and in obedience to God. It is easier and more fulfilling to live the Christian life in community with other Christians than it is to try to go it alone. So, if you are reading this and you are not a part of a local church, please please please go and be a part of one. Our church is open to you.