Bible Contradictions from www.Atheist.org a Response from Pastor Jeremiah Holcombe

Bible Contradictions from www.Atheist.org

a Response from Pastor Jeremiah Holcombe

What follows are fifteen responses to fifteen contradictions in the Bible as presented by the atheist website, atheist.org. The original resource page is, https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/.

My desire in this response to accurately respond to the presented contradictions in a concise, clear, and biblical way. If you have questions, please email me at jeremiahholcombe@gmail.com, or give me a call at 928-916-9571, or simply talk with me. I pray that you will be blessed through this.

On a side note, I have tried my best to correct my spelling and grammar, but I’m sure there were things that slipped by me. I have not on the other hand tried to correct the grammar or the spelling of the atheist website and instead opted to copy and paste it directly form the site. I have structured this paper with the title of the proposed contradiction, the copied atheist information and then my response.

1) The Sabbath Day

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” — Exodus 20:8

“One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” — Romans 14:5

Response:

The implication of putting these two verse next to each other is to say, how can God make the Sabbath more important, when Paul is saying that no day is more important than the other. 

This is a common practice of not only non-Christians, but of Christians too. We try proof texting the Bible, instead of reading the context of the passage. In Romans 14:5, Paul is dealing with people who are judging each other in Christian practice. The Jewish Christians were saying that people had to worship on Saturday the seventh day of the week, whereas the Gentile Christians began worshiping on Sunday the day of Jesus’ resurrection. Paul is actually referring back to a teaching of Jesus in Mark chapter 2 verse 23 to chapter 3 verse 6, where Jesus tells us what the Sabbath is. The Sabbath is not a specific day to be tied to, but rather a time God set aside for people to worship him and be refreshed. 

In Exodus 20:8 were not told that Saturday is the Sabbath, but rather it says in context of the very next verse, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.” 

Did you catch that, you work six days, then the seventh day is the Sabbath. So if you work Monday through Saturday, Sunday is an acceptable day. If you work Sunday through Friday, Saturday is an acceptable Sabbath day. Paul is not saying that we should have a Sabbath and therefore not elevate it above any other day, but rather, not to elevate any other day above one thinking that you can only have a Sabbath on a particular day.

Context is king when we’re trying to understand seemingly contradictory passages in the Bible, and as we saw here, when we look at the context of each passage, we can see their in harmony, and not contradictory.

2) The Permanence of Earth

“… the earth abideth for ever.” — Ecclesiastes 1:4

“… the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” — 2Peter 3:10

Response:

To begin, Ecclesiastes is one of those books, where if you try to pick out individual verses and make a theological frame work around said verses, you’re most likely going to miss the point. Case in point, by only quoting the last five words of the Ecclesiastes 1:4, we miss the context in what the earth is being compared to. The full verse reads, “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.” By reading the verse in it’s entirety we can see that it is talking about the cycle of humanity and death, whereas the earth remains.

Second, at the beginning of the book of Ecclesiastes, the writers literally says, “2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” or as a more modern translation puts it, “‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’” In other words, the man writing is wiring in lament, meaning he is looking at the world around him as if he has been defeated. In philosophical terms, he is showing more of a nihilistic worldview, than a biblical worldview.

Finally, the Hebrew word, “olam” (o-lawn) doesn’t literally mean infinte. Rather, what it means is a long duration of time. In the modern vernacular, we use this same idea when teenagers say, “It’s been like, forever.” (Did you just read that in a valley girl voice?) The teenager doesn’t literally mean forever, but rather it’s been a long time. 

Therefore when Peter in his second letter says, that the earth shall be burned up, he is not contradicting Ecclesiastes 1:4, because there is nothing to contradict.

 

3) Seeing God

“… I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” — Genesis 32:30

“No man hath seen God at any time…”– John 1:18

Response:

John’s words in the opening of his Gospel of Jesus’ life, are very pointed in communicating that Jesus isn’t just some other man, but in fact God himself. The whole verse of John 1:18 reads, “ No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” John believes, and wants to believe that Jesus is no mere man, but God himself.

But if no one has ever seen God, except God the Son, how then can Jacob in Genesis 32:30 write that he saw him face to face? And not only Jacob, but Moses had several mentions of seeing God face to face (Exodus 33:4; Numbers 12:8 & 14:14; Deuteronomy 34:10), and the same goes with Gideon (Judges 6:22).

Now in our modern world, we have things like FaceTime, which is an Apple program where two people can communicate with each other through video chat. The idea of a face to face meeting means that both of you are able to see each other. The problem with interpreting passages of the Bible, is that we tend to interpret them through the lens of our own world, instead of allowing the world in which it was written in to clarify it’s meaning. 

The simple answer here is, phrase face to face, did not mean physical sight, but rather a personal relationship. In her article on this very subject, Mary Fairchild writes, “In this verse (speaking of Exodus 33:4), ‘face to face’ is a figure of speech, a descriptive phrase that is not to be taken literally. It cannot be, for God does not have a face. Instead, it means that God and Moses shared a deep friendship. (https://www.learnreligions.com/face-of-god-bible-4169506)”

When we are allow the context of the world that the Bible was written in interpret the passages first, then we can better understand and implement the words of Scripture into our own lives. 

4) Human Sacrifice

“… Thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God…” — Leviticus 18:21

[In Judges, though, the tale of Jephthah, who led the Israelites against the Ammonoites, is being told. Being fearful of defeat, this good religious man sought to guarantee victory by getting god firmly on his side. So he prayed to god] “… If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering” — Judges 11:30-31

[The terms were acceptable to god — remember, he is supposed to be omniscient and know the future — so he gave victory to Jephthah, and the first whatsoever that greeted him upon his glorious return was his daughter, as god surely knew would happen, if god is god. True to his vow, the general made a human sacrifice of his only child to god!] — Judges 11:29-34

Response:

The first passage from Leviticus 18:21 deals with God’s desire that the Israelite people not sacrifice their children as the Canaanite people were doing. It was a horrible practice where a large statue of a human boar hybrid with a furnace in it’s belly would be lit. Then on the outstretched arms of the statue, children would be placed and burned alive. God didn’t want child sacrifice. 

The second passage from Joshua 11:30-31, seems to go against this idea of no child sacrifice, because Jephthah ends up sacrificing his daughter to win a battle.

Here’s the problem with the passage, the language of the passage in Judges is unclear. With some putting forth that he didn’t sacrifice her, but because of the emphasis on her being a virgin later on in the passage, that what actually happen was that he dedicated her to the service of the Lord where she would be unable to marry.

But let’s say, that Jephthah did kill his daughter and sacrificed her to God after the battle was won. There are problems with that too, first the Spirit of God descending on Jephthah at the beginning of the passage in verse 29 is contrasted with his vow in verse 30 & 31. We know of Jephthah’s backstory, that he had non-Jewish roots. A vow like this is more pagan than Jewish. And nowhere in the passage do we a confirmation that it was because of the vow that the victory was won. 

Instead, the passage seems to indicate that God had already secured the victory because he had given Jephthah his Spirit. But Jephthah wanted to secure it himself and offered a sacrifice. But this was him speaking hastily and out of ignorance. Therefore Jephthah’s joy in winning the battle, is broken with his sorrow at his own hasty vow. 

This passage makes Jesus’ words in Matthew 5 really cut deep, “33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. (33-37)”

Jephthah’s vow was evil, because he was trying to win the victory on his own terms and it cost him his daughter.

5) The Power of God

“… with God all things are possible.” — Matthew 19:26

“…The LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.” — Judges 1:19

Response:

When Jesus spoke the words, “with God all things are possible,” the context we are given is dealing with a person’s eternal destination. Jesus was responding to the disciples question, “Who then can be saved?(v.25)” This question came because Jesus told the disciples, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. (v.24)” In other words, it is possible for God to bring even a rich person into his kingdom.

By comparing this discussion about eternal life, with that of a physical battle we see context of both passages ripped away. In the case for Judges 1:19, the context tells us that the tribe of Judah, one of the twelve of Israel, was battling all over their region. Victory after victory was won. When we come to verse 19, we’re told that again Judah was able to achieve overall victory. But there were some of Judah’s enemies who remained, this is because they had more advanced weapons. 

Does this point to God not being powerful enough? No, God gave the people of Judah the victory, and they had conquered the land. Yet in other places in Scripture, like in the very next chapter (2:20-21), the people of Israel were breaking the commands and covenant with God.

God is powerful, yet he works with us to bring about victory, and will not be a participating force in something that is not in his will. 

6) Personal Injury

“…thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. ” — Exodus 21:23-25

“…ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” — Matthew 5:39

Response:

When comparing the Old Testament to the New Testament one of the most common missteps in interpretation is taking each out of it’s context. The whole of the Bible is written as a pathway. Creation to Fall, Fall to Plan, Plan to Israel, Israel to Messiah, Messiah to Return. The path from the opening pages of Genesis culminates in Jesus’ arrival, death and resurrection and then finally his return at the end. 

In God’s dealing with Israel, they were to be a special people separated for God’s work (Exodus 19:6). A par to this separation was a theocratic government that was to be set up. In the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, we are given that governmental structure. One of these laws was that of Exodus 21:23-25. In ancient times and in vernal human nature, when someone was wronged, they not only received what was stolen, they also received compensation. We see this in places like Arabia, where a thief lost their hand in compensation for their crime. Yet, God called his people to not compound punishment, but rather have the punishment equal to the crime. 

When the work of God moves to Messiah, Jesus speaks the words of Matthew 5:39, calling the people, not into a government system, but rather into individual responses. On an individual level, we are to overcome evil with good, so personal injury needs to take a back seat to seeking goodness. 

As we see God moving the Israelite people away from seeking vengeance in their judicial law, we see God move his people away from vengeance even further through Jesus.

7) Circumcision

“This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.” — Genesis 17:10

“…if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.” — Galatians 5:2

Response:

Many people miss what a covenant is. If we skip over what a covenant, then we miss the intention of what follows. A covenant is a legal agreement between two parties. In the case of the covenant between Abraham and God, and then later God and Israel, a sign of this legal agreement was the physical act of circumcision. Even though the physical act of circumcision was used, the covenant between God and Abraham was different than that of the covenant of God and Israel. 

The Abrahamic covenant had as it’s goal the building of a nation, through both many descendants and with land. This covenant is fulfilled by God in the time of Joshua. 

The Sinai covenant had as it’s goal the people of Israel being a separate people group who conducted their nation by the leading of God. 

When we come to the New Testament we actually see a God make a new covenant. This covenant is not made to be physical, with descendants or nations, but with the individual. The physical sign is not a mark on the body, but rather a mark on the life. 

So when Paul speaks in Galatians 5:2, he is saying that a physical circumcision does you no good, but rather it is the inward circumcision of the heart and the life application of such. 

8) Incest

“Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of this mother…” — Deuteronomy 27:22

“And if a man shall take his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter…it is a wicked thing….” — Leviticus 20:17

[But what was god’s reaction to Abraham, who married his sister — his father’s daughter?] See Genesis 20:11-12

“And God said unto Abraham, As for Sara thy wife…I bless her, and give thee a son also of her…” — Genesis 17:15-16

Response:

In the Mosaic Law, the Bible is very clear on who not to have intercourse with. The terms used form the above passages are “lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.” That’s very specific. In modern language we would say, a biological sibling. Because this is so clear we do not need to go any further.

But the question is, is this the same relationship that Abraham had with his wife Sara? The answer is yes, Sara is Abraham’s half-sister. So doesn’t this mean that incest is okay with God?

Here’s the problem, Abraham and Sara are married before God called Abraham to follow him (Genesis 12). God did not resolve this marriage, why? Could it be that they made a marriage covenant and covenants are important? Just because Abraham did something outside of God’s design, does that mean he can no longer use Abraham?

In the passage referenced, Genesis 20:11-12, Abraham also lies, does this mean that God approves, even though in Exodus 20:16, God tells the people that shall not lie?

Here’s the reality, God uses us in our sinful ways, Abraham did a lot wrong, that God had to move him beyond. When giving his law for the people to follow, 400+ years later, God sets forth what he expects form his people. When God made a covenant with Abraham, he agreed to be his God even with all the baggage that came with it. 

This is an encouragement to us that even with all the sin we’ve committed, God will work with us to bring us to him.

9) Trusting God

“A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD…” — Proverbs 12:2

Now consider the case of Job. After commissioning Satan to ruin Job financially and to slaughter his shepherds and children to win a petty bet with Satan. God asked Satan: “Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.” — Job 2:3

Response:

Comparing these two passages misses the point of the book of Job. In the opening pages of Job we learn of a meeting between God and Satan. (There’s not enough time to go into the theological ramifications of this part). In this meeting Satan has roamed the world, and God brings up “my servant Job.” Satan responds that he only follows God because God gives him everything, to which God says, “all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand.”

So all of Job’s family and finances are taken away, yet Job continues to follow God. Then we are told in the second chapter that again Satan arrives and God references Job. This time Satan responds with, “Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.” Making the argument that people only follow until their own lives are on the line.

God then allows Satan to do whatever he wants just shy of killing Job. We then spend the next forty chapters hearing Job and his friends go back and forth of why bad things have occurred to Job. Job don’t understand because as far as he’s concerned he’s done nothing wrong; whereas his friends say there must be something he did.

We as the audience know that it’s not Job’s fault. 

Why would God do this? Is it so we would trust him, or could it be that the whole book of Job is to attack the ancient idea that if you have wealth and prosperity then you are blessed by God, and if you don’t that means you have sinned? The reality is, Job’s story is to relay several theological points: First, bad things happen that are out of control, and yes we need to trust God. Second, we can question our circumstances and bring our griefs to God. Third, God is not checked out in the process and knows exactly what’s going on. Fourth, There is a reason behind everything, we just might not know it. Fifth, just because you are wealthy or poor is not a reflection on your situation with God. Finally, God isn’t going to give us more than we can endure.

God’s interaction with Satan and Job isn’t petty, but rather given to us so that when we enter into the harsh times of life, we can trust that there is a God who is in control.

10) The Holy Lifestyle

“Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart…” — Ecclesiastes 9:7

“…they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not…” — 1 Corinthians 7:30

Response:

To tell you the truth, with just two out of context verses, it’s hard to understand what is actually being said here. So what follows is my interpretation of what point the website is trying to make.

In Ecclesiastes 9 the writer, the writer is musing about death and how it awaits us all. To him, the end result for the righteous and the wicked is the same, the grave. So the writer tells us that we need to go and enjoy this life. The rest of verse 7 that is left off says, “for God now accepteth thy works.” 

If we simply leave the book in chapter 9, we might walk away from it with the understanding that we should embrace this life and as verse 9 says, “Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.”

But the book doesn’t end in chapter 9 and it’s conclusions, but rather in chapter 12:13-14, “13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”

At the end of Ecclesiastes, the writer calls us to following God, because there will be a judgment at the end. This fits perfectly with what is said in the New Testament book Hebrews, where in chapter 9 verse 27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”

Now as for 1st Corinthians 7:30, it actually calls us to the same idea. Is it saying that we shouldn’t rejoice? No, because then in chapter 12 verse 26, the call to rejoice would be inconstant. Rather the point of the passage begins with marriage, and whether a person should get married. Paul’s stance is the ministry is more important than marriage, but he doesn’t condemn it either. Rather, when we get to verse 30, the book ends of verse 29 and the end of verse 31 are important. Verse 29 reads, “But this I say, brethren, the time is short…” Whereas verse 31 reads, “And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.”

Paul’s whole emphasis is that we would be working for the kingdom and not concern ourselves with the pleasure of the world. 

Now why would this atheist website use these verses when talking about a holy lifestyle? I couldn’t tell you. Ecclesiastes is ultimately calling us to that lifestyle, and so is 1st Corinthians. 

What I believe the point in using these two verses is the focus on “rejoice”. In the Ecclesiastes verse it says to merriment, while in the 1st Corinthians verse it says “rejoiced not”. I do not believe that this was thought through when it was put together. 

The Bible is perfectly consistent in calling followers of God to a Holy lifestyle, and these two passages do nothing to contradict that.

11) Punishing Crime

“The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father…” — Ezekiel 18:20

“I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation…” — Exodus 20:5

Response:

When trying to understand the Bible, it is best to read it in the order of it’s revelation. First and foremost, Exodus come before Ezekiel, and so, when we seek to interpret the passages we need to read them in order. Not, as we see from the atheist website, where the more recent revelation is given first.

Why is this important? Because of the following: God speaks and says, “I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation…” The emphasis that the website is putting on here is where is God visits iniquity of the fathers on the children three and four generations away. 

And this is true, but the question arises, if the father sinned and the children do not, will they still be judged for the father’s sin?

Fast forward several hundred years to the time of Ezekiel and we get that very theological answer. God is responding specifically to a proverb that is going around Israel. 18:1-2, “The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, 2 What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?”

The meaning of the proverb is an attack on the justice of God. The Israelites were saying that God is not fulfilling his side of his covenant and justice isn’t being served.

God responds by saying that, “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.(v.4)” For the next chapter, God speaks in detail about the righteous father and the wicked son, and the wicked father and righteous son. 

God lets us know that if the father is wicked, yet the son sees that and decides not to follow his fathers footsteps, and instead chooses righteousness, then the sins of the father will not be on the son (v.14ff).

So, Scripture interprets Scripture. God will judge those generations that continue in the sins of the father (Exodus 20:5), but for the generation that sees the wickedness and turns from it, God will not continue the judgement (Ezekiel 18:20). Reading the Bible as a whole, and not cherry picking passages is what we need to fully understand what is being talked about within it’s pages.

12) Temptation

“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.” — James 1:13

“And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham…” — Genesis 22:1

Response:

These are obviously contradictory, because in the Genesis passage it clearly states that God tempted Abraham, but in the James passage, it says God cannot tempt.

But here’s the thing, the website is purposefully using the King James Version of the Bible. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, and I’m not going to condemn anyone that uses that version of the Bible. In fact if you want to memorize the Bible, the King James is probably the best one to memorize, because it is so poetic. But the problem with the King James is that is was translated just over 400 years ago. The English language has changed, and so a more modern English translation for our vernacular should be used when discussing contradictions. 

Case in point, if you take the top four English translations, New International, New American Standard, English Standard, and even the New King James version, every single one of the them translates Genesis 22:1 not as tempted Abraham, but rather tested him.

But what if they’re lying to try and cover up a contradiction? Well, what does the Hebrew say? Well the Hebrew word is “nasah” (nawsaw), which means to get or try someone. In other words, the modern translations correctly translate the word tested, because back when the King James version was translated, they understood the difference, but since language changes over time, we need more precise words to help us understand the meanings of words.

But what’s the difference between a testing of God and a temptation? Simply, God tests us to build us up in the faith, whereas the enemies of God tempt us to break relationship with him. Can we be tested and tempted at the same time? Yes, Joshua himself said of his brothers selling him into slavery said in Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” And the reverse is true as well.

13) Family Relationships

“Honor thy father and thy mother…”– Exodus 20:12

“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. ” — Luke 14:26

Response:

The Exodus passage is pretty straight forward in it’s emphasis, respect for parents. In fact the whole of the verse emphasizes that to have a good life, a person must honor their parents. But one of the things that is missed when quoting this verse out of context and comparing it to a verse like Luke 14:26, is the fact that this verse follows: a command on having no other gods before the God of Israel, no idols, honoring God’s name, and setting aside a day for communion with God.

Five commands about following God and putting him before everything else come before honoring parents. So with that understanding we can now see that Jesus’ words in Luke 14:26 make sense. Especially when we understand that the Greek word “miseó” (mis-eh’-o), that we translate as hate, has the additional meaning of “love less” or “esteem less”. Just as the command to honor our parents comes after a greater emphasis on honoring God, so to must our devotion to everything in this world come after our devotion to God.

This is a consistent teaching from Exodus 20 all the way to Luke 14.

14) Resurrection of the Dead

“…he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. ” — Job 7:9

“…the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth….” — John 5:28-29

Response:

When reading the book of Job, we must first understand that Job’s words are from a distressed and grieving man. He is struggling with his world that has crashed all around him and he is using what he can observation about the world to help him cope. When we come to chapter 7, Job begins to speak about life, saying things like, “My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. (v.6)”, and “O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.”

And later in the chapter, Job admits that what he is saying is in anguish, “Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.”

So we have to watch how we interpret this grieving and distressed man’s words. In verse 9, Job is looking at death as the end, there is no hope afterward.

This is why Jesus’ words of John 5 are so important. Job sees death and it’s the end, like so many people today, but to God death is nothing. In fact, on one occasion Jesus called death sleep (Mark 5:41). 

Job is a reflection of us when we are down with no hope, but what Job did right, was he continued to go back to God and when God speaks in the end, Job says, “Then Job answered the Lord, and said, 2 I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.”

In the end, Job trusts God, because on in him is there hope. Not just for this life, but for the life to come.

15) The End of the World

“Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. ” — Matthew 16:28

“Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. ” — Luke 21:32-33

“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” — Romans 13:11-12

“Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” — James 5:8

“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” — 1 John 2:18

“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” — 1 Peter 4:7

These words were written between 1800 and 1900 years ago and were meant to warn and prepare the first Christians for the immediate end of the world. Some words are those supposedly straight out of the mouth of the “Son of God.” The world did not end 1800 or 1900 years ago. All that generation passed away without any of the things foretold coming to pass. No amount of prayer brought it about; nor ever so much patience and belief and sober living. The world went on, as usual, indifferent to the spoutings of yet another batch of doomsday prophets with visions of messiahs dancing in their deluded brains. The world, by surviving, makes the above passages contradictions.

Response: 

Out of all of the topics presented so far, this is the most detailed. Whereas the ones before it simply gave verses and perhaps a brief commentary, this final one is where the it seems the author wants to be the most vocal. Except this is not a supposed contradiction within the Bible as were the previous topics.

No, this has to do with fulfilled prophecy, and when dealing with prophecy, we have to take a step back and analyze the word usage given. But before we get into that, I want to emphasize that this is not a biblical contradiction in the same vein as the rest of the discussion thus far. So in reality, we have been given fourteen topics on supposed contradictions and one topic on fulfilled/unfulfilled prophecy. 

With that understanding out of the way, let us begin to analyze and understand the verses given.

The first two verses given are both from Jesus, which I appreciate, because the verses following would his disciples’ interpretation of his words.

In Matthew 16 four things happen: first, Jesus is asked to give a miraculous sign, which he says will be the sign of Jonah. This references Jonah’s three days in the belly of the fish and then spit up on shore, which parallels Jesus’ three days in the grave and resurrection. Second, Jesus tells his disciples to not be like those who desired miraculous signs over Jesus himself. Third, Peter confesses that Jesus is the awaited Messiah of Israel and Jesus says that on that understanding the Church will be built. And finally, Jesus predicts his death, to which Peter rebukes him, and Jesus tells him that for people to gain life, Jesus must die and be resurrected.

It is in this context that Jesus says starting in verse 27, “ For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. 28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”

There are three interpretations here, the one the atheist website is putting forth, one that links what happens follows this, and the one that I will put forth.

The first one is simply that Jesus is talking about when he returns in his second coming. I do not believe this interpretation is true because of Jesus’ talk about those standing there seeing Jesus in his kingdom.

The second is Jesus is talking about the transfiguration that happens right after this. I do not believe this to be the case, because Jesus’ talk about angels.

I believe that a third interpretation covers both objects that I have raised with the previous two. Jesus is speaking of his resurrection. This incorporates Jesus’ words about how some of the disciples would be seeing it (we know Judas did not). This also incorporates the angles, who are seen at both his gravesite (Matt. 28:5) and when he is taken into heaven (Acts 1:10-11). This would also be in keeping with Jesus’ words about his kingdom not being of this world, but of the spirit (John 18:36). Instead, Jesus’ kingdom begins with the Church and has it’s fulfillment in his second coming.

Moving on to Luke 21:32-33, we find a parallel passage in Matthew 24. In both passages, Jesus is asked when will the temple be destroyed and the end will come. In both passages, Jesus gives a list of events that will happen. In verse 21-24, were told that Jerusalem will be surrounded and trampled upon. This happened in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. Then we are told at the end of verse 24 that Gentiles will continue to trample on it until the time has been fulfilled. 

With that, everything afterward comes after AD 70. That is when we are told that at some future date, all sorts of things will begin to happen and then the end will come. When we arrive at verse 32, and the words, “…this  generation…”, Jesus is not talking abbot the generation of the first disciples, but of those who have seen all that he has just said that occurs after AD 70.  Which, we are still in the time of the Gentiles from verse 24.

The verses from Romans 13:11-12, James 5:8, 1 John 2:18, and 1 Peter 4:7 would all be keeping with Jesus’ final words in Luke 21:34-36, “34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

Jesus’ disciples did not know when any of this would come. Would the time of the Gentiles be a tomorrow and then be there for a year, or would it be a hundred years from now? They didn’t know, so they were prepared as Jesus told them they should be for it to happen at any moment. And we should be too. We could go further into the times that have happened and if you would like to do just that, a link to my blog where I delve a little deeper in this issues.

https://intersectfaithandlife.blogspot.com/2018/10/mark-week-36-always-close-blinds.html

Each of us needs to be prepared for the day of Jesus’ return. True is has not yet occurred, but what we are seeing in our world today, points to us moving closer to the day when the Savior of the world will come, and on that day there will be both great rejoicing and great sorrow.

My Conclusion: 

In my own conclusion, if you struggle with contradictions in the Bible, I would implore you to begin by simply reading it in it’s context. The majority of what we’ve covered today is simple context reading. To both Christians and non-Christian, do not base what you believe on one verse, but rather the whole of the Word of God together. I have found that it is more cohesive and deeper than anything else. I pray that this has blessed you, with both information, and a greater understanding of the harmony of the Bible.

No One Talks About it Series: Week 3 - Contradicting Yourself

Two years ago my family joined a small group of homeschoolers that participated in a national organization called Stoa. This group hosts speech and debate tournaments all over the United States. Last year, my two older children began participating in those tournaments in the junior category. In fact, yesterday, they participated in a one day tournament in Phoenix. The topics some of these kids and teens cover, amaze me. The thought and research they conduct, and the presentations they give are remarkable. 

They wrestle with the questions that philosophers and theologians have debated for centuries, then they give a fully flushed out understanding of it, and either a defense or rebuttal  of those ideas. As I was sitting in on one of these speeches, it hit me, these young people were confronting the same topics that some Christian leaders are losing their faith over, and I asked myself, “how can that be?” How can these children and teens articulate an understanding of the topics, their implications, and answer them, when Christian leaders cannot? The thought simply astounded me.

Which brings us to this week in our “No One Talks About it Series,” where we are covering the topics that an ex-Hillsong worship leader by the name of Marty Sampson says are some of the reason he is losing his Christian faith. 

The first topic that Sampson brings up, is the fact that preachers fall and no one talks about it. We showed this to be untrue with several examples, both nationally and personally. But what we focused on was the fact that, Scripture tells us people will fall, giving us plenty of examples of it, but the emphasis isn’t on the fall of other people, but rather being personally on guard against falling to temptation. Where Sampson focuses on other people, God desires that we be personally prepared, on guard, and praying for others to not fall.

Then last we week covered Sampson’s focus on how not many miracles happen. From this we saw an acknowledgement by Sampson that miracles do happen, but he desires more of them. The problem that we talked about with this, is the desire to have miracles over a relationship with God. We saw two places in Jesus’ life where, if a person was not interested in a relationship with God, then even the greatest miracle of the resurrection wouldn’t be enough. So we walked away from last week with the understanding that when we demand miracles from God, there will never be enough of them to satisfy us. But when we desire God, we will experience more miracles that we can imagine. 

This brings us to Sampson’s third topic of why he is losing his Christian faith. This is what he says, “Why is the Bible full of contradictions? No one talks about it.”

I have to say, this topic is one my favorite topics that he brings up. Because there is a whole discipline within Christianity that deals with this very topic. That discipline is called textual criticism. The whole bases of textual criticism is to analyze the text to understand what it means. Now, we’re not going to get into all of that here, because I want to jump into some of the more prominent contradictions that are brought up against the Bible, and see if they are truly contradictions.

So, we’re going to cover three contradictions of the Bible that are brought up by people. And to make sure these are real contradictions that are brought up by non-Christians, I’m going to be taking these contradictions from the website, www.atheists.org, which is one of the first non-Cristian websites that is brought up when you google the words, “Contradictions in the Bible.”

On the website’s resource page dealing with Bible contradictions, it says this, “It is a central dogma of all fundamental Christians that the Bible is without error. They teach this conclusion by “reasoning” that god cannot be the author of false meaning and he cannot lie. Is this true? If written by a perfect being, then it must not contradict itself, as a collection of books written by different men at different times over many centuries would be expected to contradict each other.

"With this in mind, let us have a look at the Bible on several subjects.” (https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/)

So let us look at three of the fifteen that are brought up. If you would like to read the other twelve and my response to each, I’ll have that available on the information table in the foyer.

Let’s begin where they begin, the Sabbath Day.

Real quick, for those of you who do not know, the Sabbath Day was officially instituted as a command of God in the Law of Moses in Exodus chapter 20 verse 8. But it has it’s origins in Genesis chapter 2 verse 2, in reference to God’s work in creation. That’s a whole book before, and at the very beginning of the Bible.

On the atheist website it gives two seemingly contradictory verses. The first comes from Exodus 20 verse 8, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” The second comes from the New Testament book of Romans chapter 14 verse 5, “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.”

The implication of putting these two verses next to each other is to say, how can God make the Sabbath more important than any other day, when later on God says through Paul,  that no day is more important than the other. 

This is a common practice of not only non-Christians, but of Christians too. We try proof text the Bible, instead of reading the context of the passage. Proof texting is simply picking one verse out of the Bible and creating a theological framework around it. In Romans 14:5, the context is that Paul is dealing with people who are judging each other in Christian practice. The Jewish Christians were saying that people had to worship on Saturday the seventh day of the week, whereas the Gentile Christians began worshiping on Sunday the day of Jesus’ resurrection. Paul is actually referring back to a teaching Jesus that starts in Mark chapter 2 verse 23, where Jesus tells us what the Sabbath is. See the Sabbath is not a specific day to be tied to, but rather a time God set aside for people to worship him and be refreshed. 

In Exodus 20:8 were not told that Saturday is the Sabbath, but rather in context we’re told, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.” 

Did you catch that, you work six days, then the seventh day is the Sabbath. So if you work Monday through Saturday, Sunday is an acceptable day. If you work Sunday through Friday, Saturday is an acceptable Sabbath day. God is not contradicting himself saying the Sabbath should be elevated and then no day is to be elevated. Rather, we’re not to think that you can only have a Sabbath on a particular day, and therefore elevating that day. Instead the we’re to understand that the intention of the Sabbath is for rest and communion with God, and that can happen on any day.

Context is king when we’re trying to understand seemingly contradictions in the Bible, and as we saw here, when we look at the context of each passage, we can see they’re in harmony, and not contradictory.

Let’s move onto another contradiction. This one has to deal with human sacrifice, and is more complicated that most of the others. The website gives two passages. The first one comes from Leviticus chapter 18 verse 21 “… Thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God…”

The second passage comes from Judges 11:30-31, “… If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering”

The first passage from Leviticus 18:21 deals with God’s desire that the Israelite people not sacrifice their children as the Canaanite people were doing. It was a horrible practice where a large statue of a human boar hybrid with a furnace in it’s belly would be lit. Then on the outstretched arms of the statue, children would be placed and burned alive, as a sacrifice to the god Molech. God didn’t want child sacrifice. 

The second passage from Judges 11:30-31, seems to go against this idea of no child sacrifice, because Jephthah the speaker in the passage, makes a pledge to God that if God gives him the victory in this coming battle, then he will sacrifice whatever meets him when he returns from that battle. When we returns however, it is his daughter that come out first, and so Jephthah ends up sacrificing her.

Here’s the problem with the passage, the language of the passage in Judges is unclear. With some scholars putting forth that he didn’t kill her, but because of the emphasis on her being a virgin later on in the passage, that what actually happen was that he dedicated her to the service of the Lord where she would be unable to marry.

But let’s say, that Jephthah did kill his daughter and sacrificed her to God after the battle was won. There’s problems with that too. First the Spirit of God descending on Jephthah at the beginning of the passage in verse 29, is contrasted with his vow in verse 30 & 31. We know of Jephthah’s backstory, that he had non-Jewish pagan roots. A vow like this is more pagan than Jewish. And no where in the passage do we get a confirmation that it was because of the vow that the victory was won. 

Instead, the passage seems to indicate that God had already secured the victory because he had given Jephthah his Spirit. But Jephthah wanted to secure it himself and vowed to offer a sacrifice. But this was him speaking hastily and out of ignorance and his old pagan ways. Therefore Jephthah’s joy in winning the battle, is broken with his sorrow at his own hasty vow. 

This passage makes Jesus’ words in Matthew 5 really cut deep. Jesus says, “33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. (33-37)”

Jephthah’s vow was evil, because he was trying to win the victory on his own terms and it cost him his daughter. So later on in the Bible, we get a clear teaching to avoid such practices.

The final Bible contradiction that we’re going to cover today is temptation. The atheist website gives the passage of James 1:13, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.”

This passage from James is then contrasted with Genesis 22:1, “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham…”

These are obviously contradictory, because in the Genesis passage it clearly states that God tempted Abraham, but in the James passage, it says God cannot tempt.

But here’s the thing, the website is purposefully using the King James Version of the Bible. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, and I’m not going to condemn anyone that uses that version of the Bible. In fact if you want to memorize the Bible, the King James is probably the best one to memorize, because it is so poetic. But the problem with the King James is that is was translated just over 400 years ago. The English language has changed, and so a more modern English translation for our modern vernacular should be used when discussing contradictions. 

Case in point, if you take the top four English translations, New International, New American Standard, English Standard, and even the New King James version, every single one of them translates Genesis 22:1 not as tempted Abraham, but rather tested him.

But what if they’re lying to try and cover up a contradiction? That’s when we ask, what does the Hebrew say? In Genesis 22:1, the Hebrew word is “nasah” (nawsaw), which means “to test or try someone”. In other words, the modern translations correctly translate the word tested. Back when the King James version was translated, they understood the difference the nuances of the word tempted, that we don’t pick up on today, and since language changes over time, we need more precise words to help us understand the meanings of words.

But what’s the difference between a testing of God and a temptation? Simply, God tests us to build us up in the faith, whereas the enemies of God tempt us to break relationship with him. Can we be tested and tempted at the same time? Yes, at the end of the book of Genesis the man Joseph said of his brothers selling him into slavery in Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Temptation and testing can happen at the same time, producing wither righteous or unrighteous acts.

Those are three seeming contradictions that are presented from the Bible. Yet, when we take the time and think through them, we find that they’re not contradictions at all, but rather show how harmonious the Bible is. The Bible was written by 40+ men over the span of 1,500 years, and on three different continents, but all by one Spirit and one God. 

The Bible’s cohesiveness should ground us further in our faith. But for people like Sampson, superficial contradictions can shake that ground. Isn’t interesting then that Jesus says, “24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. (Matthew 7:24-27)”

We too can easily fall into this mindset that God’s Word isn’t trust worthy. This is why it is so important to read the context, ask questions, and truly seek answers to our questions. I have yet to find a passage of Scripture that by diving into the context, or studying more, didn’t harmonize with the rest of Scripture. In fact, in the last year, my faith in the Bible’s cohesiveness has grown in leaps and bounds, because I have been studying the seeming contradictions of the Bible. 

Marty Sampson seems to not have taken the time to dive into God’s Word to understand it. Let us not fall into that same trap. Let us instead bring our question and struggles before God, and seek him to teach us. 

This week my challenge for you is simple, take the passages that we studied today, or others that you have heard of, and do your own research. Wrestle with God through the passages, and if you need a person to help, give me a call, text me, or come into the office, I would be glad to struggle through it with you.

Let us be the people of God, who like the Bereaians of the book of Acts (17:10-15) searched the Scriptures daily so that they would draw closer to God. Amen.

No One Talks About it Series: Week 2 - Greedy Miracles

The mother spoke up, ”God has told me my boy is not going to die. He is going to walk out of this hospital completely healed!”

Three months earlier, her teenage boy went in for a ruptured appendix. Unfortunately, the rupture had taken it’s toll, causing the boy to slip into a coma. For three months the mother watched as her son’s body shriveled up, only kept alive, it seemed, by the tubes and hose of the 1960’s medical machines. Three months into the coma, the doctor approached the mom at her boy’s bedside and said that they were going to wait another 24 hours and then let nature take it’s course by disconnecting him from the machines. This is when her words revealed her faith. But at the mother’s faith in her God, the doctor simply responded with, “Don’t jump at straws, I don’t believe in God.” And walked away.

The mother didn’t jump at straws, she put her faith to work and began contacting all the churches in town. The denomination didn’t matter, what matter was the call to God’s people for prayer. God’s people were asked to pray at noon that Sunday when the life support machines would be turned off. So they did.

At the hospital, three minutes after 12 noon, a nurse screamed in the comatose boy’s room. His eyes were open and he smiled at her. Hospital personal rushed the room, and began asking questions of the boy, who thought it was the day after the surgery, not knowing it had actually been three months.

After the initial shock, it took eight weeks for the boy to leave the hospital. Not in a pine box as the doctor expected, or a even a wheel chair, but on his own two feet. Later on the mother asked the doctor if he believed in God now, to which the doctor replied, “I believe.”

That is the story of a miracle that happened over a half century ago to one of our congregants that is sitting in church today. I asked for his permission to share his story, because it shows that God is at work in healing today. That God’s miraculous work is not done, but continues as he sees fit.

This brings us to where we’re at in our second week of our “No One Talks About It” series. Where in the first week we began with Marty Sampson’s, an ex worship leader and song writer for the Hillsong church, announcement that he was losing his faith. In his statement, he brought up several reasons that he was moving away from Christianity. The first one that we tackled last week was that preachers fall and no one talks about it. 

Sampson puts forth that in the Christian community we don’t talk about the many preachers that fall to temptation. But we were able to show this to be untrue; with the bigger the preacher’s name recognition, the larger the scale of the talk. With the talk even reaching national headlines with people like Jimmy Swaggart. 

But what we also talked about is how the temptations of pastors and preachers are not any different than what is common for everyone else. We looked at 1st Corinthians 10, where Paul makes this point. So a preacher falling is common, does get talked about, and can happen to each of us if we are not on our guard. Temptation is ready to get any of us, and Scripture would rather us seek to be on guard against it, than to stand in judgement when someone falls to it.

This brings us to Sampson’s second, “No one is talking about it statement”, which is miracles. Sampson says, “How many miracles happen. Not many. No one talks about it.”

First, right out of the gate Sampson admits that miracles do happen, he just believes that there isn’t many, but he concedes that there are some. So we wouldn’t have to prove that miracles do happen. We don’t need to go into a great amount of detail about the documented miracles that happen across the world every day. Just being able to share the story from one of our congregants is enough to reinforce Sampson’s confession of there being at least some miracles. 

But because Sampson does believe that miracles happen often, my first question to him would be, wouldn’t any amount of miracles be amazing in and of themselves? If we saw one miracle in our life, wouldn’t that be a wonderful experience and be enough? How many miracles would we need to experience, so that we would believe the God of the Bible is true? In Sampson’s statement here, it’s almost like he’s that mouse who wanted a cookie, and then wanted some milk, and then wanted more and more. 

The reality is, brushing aside the miracles that we have for more, shows a sign of greediness on our part. And can show that we’ve created a standard by which evidence is measured by the amount we deem enough. 

I was listening to a debate between a Christian apologist named William Lane Craig and an atheist who’s name I cannot remember for the life of me. In the debate, Craig asked a simple question, “What is the evidence that you would need to believe that God exists.” The atheist replied with a joke about what God could do, but after the joke he answered the question simply, “There isn’t.” 

In that moment of honesty, the atheist communicated a standard by which we tend to judge God’s actions. And that standard is whatever we decide it is. Does it matter the arguments that are presented? No. Does it matter, the miracles that are done. No. What matters is I get to decide when God has reached my standard, but just like we see in politics, the goal post keeps getting moved. 

And this isn’t anything new. If you have your Bibles open with me to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 11, where we’ll jump down to verse 29. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus is confronted by the religious leaders of his day to provide a miracle. Let’s pick up this interaction in Luke 11, verse 29.

29 As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here.

Up until this point in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus had performed four exorcisms, four specific bodily healings with mention of several unnamed healings, he fed 5,000 people on five loaves of bread and two fish with left overs, and preformed two resurrections. Yet, though these miracles had been happening, the religious leaders wanted Jesus to preform for them, as if he was a monkey for their amusement. 

Jesus responds with telling them they will see the sign of Jonah. This sign is referencing Jonah’s three days in the belly of a great fish and then spit up on the shore, whereas Jesus would be three days in the grave and then resurrected.

These religious leaders had heard of Jesus’ miracles, but wanted him to meet their expectations; what they didn’t realize, is that the greatest miracle of all time was about to happen. But how many of them believed afterward? I don’t know. But what I do know is that later on in the 16th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells a story of a rich man and the poor Lazarus.

The story goes, that both the rich man and Lazarus died and went into the afterlife. The rich man went to the place of despair, whereas Lazarus went to the place of joy called Abraham’s bosom. In between the two places was a chasm, where the two groups could talk. The rich man yelled out for Abraham to send word back to the rich man’s brothers, so that they would not end up as he was. Listen to what Jesus says Abraham tells the rich man.

29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead. (Luke 16:29-31)’”

This was Jesus’ point, it’s not about experiencing miracles, it’s about a desire to follow him. The religious leaders wanted a miracle, and Jesus gave them his resurrection. But they wouldn’t believe, because to those who want to set the standard, no miracle or evidence will be good enough, not even a resurrection from the dead.

So, why don’t we see miracles happen today? We do. We have seen them in our own church, backs being healed, marriages being restored, families reunited, cancer being cured, and more. But because they don’t meet a personal standard of what we want from God, people will dismiss them. But the reality is, God doesn’t work to meet our standard, rather he puts forth the evidence that is needed, and let’s us choose to believe or to deny.

This is why we must not harder our hearts against what God is doing. We must never fall into the trap of setting the bar in which God must reach. Instead we must analyze what he has given us, and be open to where he is leading.

To those that want miracles, none will ever be enough, but to those who want God, he will satisfy and provide more miracles than we can imagine. Because we will begin to see the miracles that happen all around us everyday.

My challenge for you this week is simple: Go to God and ask “Am I trying to make you reach my standards, or am I seeking you for you?”

If we’re seeking God to meet our standards, we’re never going to be satisfied in our relationship with him. But if we seek God and allow him to show us who he is, then we’ll experience him in ways we could never imagine.

Marty Sampson has lost this focus, wanting God to meet his standard of miracles, rather than seeking God for who he is. Let us take this as a warning to not fall into this trap, so that we may be God’s people who experience his miraculous work in our lives. Amen.

No One Talks About it Series: Week 1 - Preachers Fall

Several weeks ago, a couple of Christian pastors announced that they no longer believed Christianity was the only way to God. The first was Joshua Harris, who became popular with his I Kissed Dating Good Bye, book. The other was a Hillsong Church music writer and worship leader named Marty Sampson. 

Since we were in our Joshua series, and only one or two of you spoke to me about the issue, I didn’t sense that I needed to address it at that time. But through the last few weeks, I have felt God leading in the direction of talking about this topic.

More specifically, of Marty Sampson’s public announcement that he made about his faith. The reason I sense that we need to talk specifically about Sampson’s announcement and not the general idea about losing one’s faith, is because Sampson brings up several things that have contributed to him losing faith. 

So for the next several weeks, we’re going to tackle each of these reasons that Sampson puts forth for why he is losing faith, and we’re going to answer these from a biblical perceptive. Because the reality is, I have had many conversations that deal with each of these topics, and they’re are answers for them. Now, what we’re not trying to do is tear down someone who is struggling with faith, but instead trying to answer the objections as clear as we can with as much love as we can.

So let’s begin by reading through Sampson’s announcement and then move to tackle each of these topics.

Sampson writes, “Time for some real talk. I’m genuinely losing my faith, and it doesn’t bother me. Like, what bothers me now is nothing. I am so happy now, so at peace with the world. It’s crazy.

“This is a soapbox moment so here I go … How many preachers fall? Many. No one talks about it. How many miracles happen. Not many. No one talks about it. Why is the Bible full of contradictions? No one talks about it. How can God be love yet send four billion people to a place, all ‘coz they don’t believe? No one talks about it. Christians can be the most judgmental people on the planet—they can also be some of the most beautiful and loving people. But it’s not for me.

“I am not in any more. I want genuine truth. Not the ‘I just believe it’ kind of truth. Science keeps piercing the truth of every religion. Lots of things help people change their lives, not just one version of God. Got so much more to say, but for me, I keeping it real. Unfollow if you want, I’ve never been about living my life for others.

“All I know is what’s true to me right now, and Christianity just seems to me like another religion at this point. I could go on, but I won’t. Love and forgive absolutely. Be kind absolutely. Be generous and do good to others absolutely. Some things are good no matter what you believe. Let the rain fall, the sun will come up tomorrow.” - Marty Sampson (ex-worship leader of Hillsong

There’s a lot to unpack from these words, and I don’t want to get into to is getting bogged down with peripheral discussions like Hillsong as a church, or any of that, but rather what Samson hammers throughout the core of his announcement. Sampson says the phrase, “No one talks about it”. In fact, he brings it up four times, in a repetitive almost musical form of writing. Which makes sense, he is a musician. 

But this idea that the topics he brings up here are not talked about is ridiculous. These topics have been wrestled with for hundreds of years, and just doing a simple Google search online will direct you to papers, videos, and discussion about every topic that Sampson brings up.

So the idea that these topic are not being talked about isn’t the reality, but for some reason it is reality for him. This is why we need to talk about what Sampson is bringing up. If Sampson isn’t encountering discussions on this topic, then that means that he and the Christians around him have failed to think through their faith. 

In our final week of the Joshua series, we talked about how Joshua called the people to follow God fully knowing what they were getting themselves into. We then talked about how Jesus calls those who would be his disciples into counting the cost of that discipleship. And how the belief that Jesus calls us into, is an entrusting belief; where we entrust our lives, thoughts, actions, desires, relationships and much more to God.

What I see in Sampson’s announcement is that he lives in a world where Christians are not counting the cost of their faith. He lives in a world where they do no tackle the objections to the Christians faith, with accuracy and diligence.

And so, in the next few weeks, we are going to tackle these topics he brings up, responding to them biblically, so we can avoid falling into the trap that Sampson has.

So let’s begin with his first, “No one talks about it.” 

Sampson says, “How many preachers fall? Many. No one talks about it.”

First off, our culture loves to talk about when a big name pastor falls. Ever hear of some of these names: Ted Haggard? He was a pastor of a huge church and former leader of the National Association of Evangelicals. He was accused of homosexual sex and using meth. Jim Bakker, a popular televangelist in the 1980s, was accused of rape and then charge and convicted of accounting fraud. Then there’s probably the most well known preacher, Jimmy Swaggart, another popular televangelist from the ‘70s and ‘80s, he was said to be having an affair and consuming pornography. 

All of these names and more were talked about in the media, again and again and again. And when a big name pastor falls publicly, USA Today, the New York Times, CNN and other large media outlets spend weeks talking about it. People talk about the fall of pastor’s all the time, and the bigger the pastor’s name, the large the scope of the talk. 

I was an intern at a church in Redding, California. The pastor there was retired and leading the church because they couldn’t afford anyone else. A few months after we moved away, that pastor ran off with the music leader and left his wife. But he wasn’t the pastor of a big church by any means with a congregation of about fifteen, so it didn’t even get press in the local paper. But the congregation sure talked about it.

Pastors, preachers, evangelist, ministers fall all the time, and we talk about it. If it’s a big name, the media will definitely bring it up.

But Sampson is seemingly blind to this. He doesn’t recognize that it is talked about. Now maybe in his ministry setting they sweep it under the rug. That does happen. Twice in this church pastors have fallen, and people tried to sweep it away. The pastor before Jeff, and the youth pastor before me, both fell in different ways, and there were people at the time, who would rather sweep what they did under the rug, than to lose a good speaker. But that doesn’t stop us from talking about.

No one talks about it? No we do, unless it will negatively effect us. But what is amazing to me, is that Sampson has fallen too. He might not have fallen to sexual sin, or to financial sin, but he has fallen into a distorted view of God. A view which we will discuss later on in this series. But for now, we can see that he has fallen to rejecting the clear teachings of Scripture.

But the reality is pastor’s fall to temptation, and the impact that brings can be immense. Sweeping it under the rug isn’t going to fix anything. Not talking about it, isn’t going to fix anything. We need to live in the reality that anyone can fall. And this isn’t some new trend in Christianity. It happen with the first disciples, Pete and Judas both fell in similar ways; Mark the writer of the Gospels fell as well. And it didn’t stop in the First Century Church either; it happened again and again throughout the centuries. There’s a story of a Bishop in northern Africa in the early 300s that succumbed to torture and renounced Christ, leaving behind many disillusioned Christians. See we need to recognize that Christian leaders falling is not a new thing. But what we need to realize even more, is that there is no distinction between those who are called to the pastorate and those who are not when in comes to the temptation to sin.

Open with me to 1st Corinthians chapter 10. Here Paul is writing to the Church at Corinth to give them a warning from Israelite history.  1st Corinthians 10:1 reads, 

10 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Paul tells the Church of the history of the Israelite people and how they fell into sin again and again. And because of that they were judged again and again. And Paul says that their sin was written down to give us an example and warning of what happens when we indulge a temptation. But did you catch what Paul said in verse 13?

13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.

The Israelites didn’t face some strange temptation that caused them to sin, it was everyday sins that we’re all tempted to. Sex, greed, idolatry, jealousy, theft, anger. We’re all tempted with common temptations, none of us faces sin that hasn’t been seen before. And in Sampson’s rebuke of people not talking about others who fall to temptation, he commits the sin of idolatry, because his truth is greater than God’s. Therefore he has fallen just like those preachers he says we’re not talking about, but it’s something that each of us could fall to as well.

The reality is, it’s easy to look at another person’s fall, and either sweep it under the rug, or to think that it can’t happen to me. But the reality is, it can. I am flawed, I am weak, I am nothing apart from from Jesus. I can fall, just like anyone else, just like the preachers we’ve mentioned today fell. And it’s the moment that we start to think that we’re strong enough and wise enough to fight against sin on our own, that we tend to fall into the temptation that surrounds us.

In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus told his disciples to pray while he went away for a while, and when he returned to them in Matthew 26:40, this is what he found. 

40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

We might not want to fall, but without a full focus on Jesus we will. We need to do as Jesus says and watch for the temptations that could lead to our falling to sin, and we need to pray for strength through the Holy Spirit.

Sampson’s announcement of falling away from the Christian faith, is a call to us to refocus our lives back to Jesus. To awaken in prayer and our trust of God. To rely more heavily on the Holy Spirit to direct our lives. To be watchful and ready recognize the temptations as they come. Let us never utter the words, “I am strong enough on my own”, because without Jesus, we’re not.

This week my challenge to you is to write down the sins that you have seen bring down others. Use them go before God and evaluate your struggles and seek strength that you wouldn’t fall. Then pray for me, pray for Jeff, pray for your fellow believers that we too wouldn’t fall into temptation. So that together we will be able to honor God, and follow where he leads.

One final note, we will all fall to temptation in our lives, so we need to extend grace, love and forgiveness when someone else does. God has forgave us when we fall, we need to extend that same forgives. 

Let us be people who are honest before God with our struggles and temptations that we would grow deep in our faith and stand strong in Christ against anything this world would send against us. Amen.

Book of Joshua Week 18: Covenant Relationship

You know that term wishy washy? It means that someone can’t make up there mind about something. It’s like if you’re out somewhere with someone, usually a spouse, and you need to get lunch, there’s always that inevitable question that arises, “where do you want to eat”. Now depending on when this question is asked, you might get the wishy washy answer, “I don’t care”. But if you ask that question with kids in the car, there is no wishy washy answers, because they know what they want, McDonalds. 

But it’s really easy to be wishy washy in a lot of our decisions, especially those decision that don’t have lasting consequences, like where do you want to eat? Even though that can be frustrating when you’re hungry and you just want to agree on a place. But what’s even more frustrating is when the decision impacts people in a way that effects lives. 

This is why I think we can get so frustrated with politicians who don’t stand on principle, but rather on what seems good at the moment, even if they’ve already committed themselves in the opposite direction.

And it’s this idea of being wishy washy that brings us to our final week here in the book of Joshua, where will be starting in verse 1 of chapter 23. So if you have your Bibles, you can open up to Joshua 23:1. 

Now we have covered a lot of topics this past summer, but as we finish up, we need to step back and look at the overarching point of the book. 

Several weeks back, we mentioned how the overarching point of the book of Joshua was to help us realize that God was accomplishing all the he promised, and that we are to learn to trust him fully. 

We saw this in Joshua’s first day on the job when he had to unite the people. We saw this when God told him to cross the flooded Jordan River. We saw this when the people walked around Jericho, and when they fought the overwhelming odds at Ai and Hebron. And with every battle the people had to fight, and every direction God sent them, the focus was on courageously trusting God. 

We saw Joshua finally internalize and speak this lesson when he fought the other kings of Canaan. And finally, we saw Joshua trust God when dividing the land between the tribes of Israel. 

This is the overarching point of the book of Joshua, to trust God in everything. And if we walk away from this book with that lesson concreted in our thoughts and actions, then we will have gained an immense jump forward in our relationship with God.

And it’s with this in mind, that we come to the final two chapters of the book of Joshua, where Joshua is about to die. Let’s pick this up in verse 1 of chapter 23.

After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man, 2 summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: “I am very old. 3 You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you. 4 Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 The Lord your God himself will push them out for your sake. He will drive them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.

6 “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. 7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now.

9 “The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10 One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. 11 So be very careful to love the Lord your God.

12 “But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, 13 then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you.

14 “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. 15 But just as all the good things the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. 16 If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.”

This is Joshua’s farewell address to the people he has been leading for several decades. And in this final address, there are three things he points out to them.

First, Joshua tells the people that God has fulfilled his promises, the land is theirs. This promise was made roughly 500 years earlier to their ancestor Abraham, and now they have seen the fulfillment of that promise. Even though there’s still work to be done, Joshua is confident that because of all that God has accomplished, the work that is still ahead is merely the icing on the cake. 

Second, Joshua wants them to fully embrace following God. He wants them to embrace what God told him to do when he first called Joshua to lead the people. In chapter 1 God tells Joshua to meditate on God’s law, and to not depart from it. God was calling Joshua to a relationship that was fully onboard to wherever brought Joshua and Joshua was calling the people to this same type of relationship with God.

Finally, Joshua wants the people to realize that the land was given to them by God, and God can take away that land away if they decide to stop following him. This last part is key for what the people do in the next chapter. But Joshua wants the people to realize that they did not deserve the land, they didn’t win the land, and they have no right to keep the land. Rather, it’s because of God that they are allowed to occupy the land, and if they violate their relationship with God, he will take it from them.

This last emphasis on the land being taken is what brings us into the final chapter of Joshua. 

In the opening of the chapter we get a summary of the history of the Israelite people. From Abram to Egypt to the current place they find themselves in. At the end of the summary, Joshua says this in verse 14, “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

The last part of verse 15 is a common saying or sometimes even a plaque that gets put up Christian homes. But here we see that Joshua is calling the people to make a decision in their lives: either follow God or not. Don’t be wishy washy in this decision, because their is no middle ground with God in this area. We either follow or we don’t. To which Joshua adds at the end, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua is letting the people know, that he will follow the Lord, no matter what their decision is. Why? Because of everything he has seen, and everything that has been done for him throughout his lifetime. Which we can read about starting in Exodus. 

This is when the people reply in verse 16, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! 17 It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. 18 And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God.”

The people respond that they too want to follow God just as Joshua has proclaimed he will. But Joshua challenges them on this, replying to them, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”

See Joshua challenges them to realize what they’re saying. To follow God can’t be half-hearted. There is no holding on to what we desire over God’s desire. There’s no thinking we can have it our way over God’s way. There’s no thinking that we get to do whatever we want,  because the reality is, we are to follow God, not lead him. Joshua challenges the people’s choice in following God, by telling them that if they choose this path, they can’t un-choose it and if they try, disaster will follow.

But even with Joshua’ warning about fully following God, the people agree that they will, and in verse 23 we see the whole back and forth end with this, “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

24 And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.”

25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws. 26 And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the Lord.

27 “See!” he said to all the people. “This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.”

In this moment the people renewed their covenant with God that they will follow him, and they did so by realizing the implications of that renewal. See a covenant was a legal contract that the people went into with God, knowing that there would be consequences if they broke their side of it. They were bound now to God, they would be his people, and he would be there God. If the people broke their side of the contract, then they would be subject to the penalties of it. 

And if you keep reading through the rest of the Bible, you’ll find that they break the covenant a lot. And even though they experience the penalties that came from breaking the covenant, God never abandoned them. He continued to work and guide the people, even as they fought against him.

Because even though the people were willing to enter into the covenant with God, their descendants weren’t. The descendants didn’t fully understand what it meant to live in a covenant relationship with God. And so they broke the covenant is so many ways, we can’t cover them all here. But in all of it, God never breaks his side of the covenant. With every penalty that came, God was always there to bring the people back to himself and re-establish the covenant with them.

And God continues to call people into a covenant relationship with him even today. Through the historical work of Jesus that is recorded in the Gospels, God is calling individuals into a covenant relationships with him. 

The Bible puts forth that humanity was designed to be in this type of relationship with God. In the opening chapters of the Bible, God creates Adam and Eve and he makes one rule, don't’ eat the fruit of a certain tree. The covenant was simple, trust God will take care of everything for you, but don’t do one thing. 

That covenant was broken.

Then God makes a new covenant with Abraham, to make his descendants great and to give them the land of Canaan.

Then God makes a covenant with the people of Israel under Moses, but they break this and spend 40 years in the desert.

Then again, God makes a covenant with the people of Israel under Joshua, which they break again, and again and again, until they are finally scattered to the world, because of their desire to have a broken covenant with God, rather than a life giving one.

But God is wasn’t done, and in fact had been working through each of these covenants to bring about the best one. With Adam breaking the original covenant and by doing so bringing sin in the world, all of humanity was now bound to rebellion in its desire to fight against God’s rule, which the Bible calls sin. That is why covenant after covenant after covenant was broken. So God himself comes to us, and brings a new covenant that is a lot like the first one, except this one is based solely on God and what he does, and not on humanities actions. See a covenant requires both parties to keep their side of the contract, but in God’s new proposed covenant, it’s all based on what God does for us.

God the Son becomes the man Jesus, lives the perfect covenant life that God calls us to, and is then killed by the people he came for. This shedding of blood doesn't’ stop the covenant, but rather seals it, and when Jesus is raised from the dead, we get God’s seal, his signature on the covenant. And now we’re asked to enter this covenant and do our part. And what do we need to do?

Well in Jesus’ own words from John chapter 3 verse 16, we learn what we need to do on our side to enter into this covenant. Jesus says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,” that’s God’s part of the covenant, “that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That’s our side of the covenant.

And that word “believes” is the Greek word pisteuó (pist-yoo’-o), which means we entrust ourselves to him. We entrust our lives, we entrust our desires, we entrust our relationships, we entrust everything to God. 

And we live the rest of our days not doing good to earn something, but rather learning to be who God originally created us to be, doing what he desires, and learning to see the world through his eyes. God desires us to enter a covenant relationship where he does all the work, and we get all the goodness form it, and all it takes from us is to entrust our lives to him everyday.

But just as Joshua told the people to make sure they were ready to enter into a covenant relationship with God, Jesus also calls us to make sure that we’re ready to enter into this covenant relationships.

In Matthew 16:24-25 Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”

In Luke 14:26 Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.”

And in Revelation 3:15-16 Jesus says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

To enter into a covenant relationship with God, we must first count the cost of it. Are we willing to embrace all the goodness that God has done for us? Breaking sin’s control over us, seeking the most fulfilling life possible for us in this world, helping us understand who we truly were created to be, mending broken relationships, and bringing us into an eternity of joy? And at the same time, are we willing to reject all those things that God calls us away from? Fear, self-centeredness, gossip, hatred, improper sexual activity, and more? 

This is the crescendo of the book of Joshua that echoes down to today. Are we willing to enter into a right relationship with God who seeks our best, or are we going to try and do it on our own, living this life for ourselves and in the end losing all of it?

This is the choice that each of us has to make. So today I want to call each of us into one of three decisions.

First, if you call yourself a Christian, that means that you have entered into a covenant relationship with God through what Jesus did on the cross. But the question is, are you holding back from God? Are you holding onto your desires, your anger, your selfishness and doing the things God has called you out of? You need to renew your focus on the covenant you entered into when you accepted Jesus as your Savior.

Second, if you are not a Christian, but want to enter into a covenant relationship with God through the work of Jesus, then you need to count the cost of that relationship. I wont’ lie, it can get hard. You’re going to struggle with things that you never thought were a problem, but God says they are. You’re going to pray, and struggle with questions like, “Why isn’t God answering me?” And there will be times when it seems easier to return to the old life, just so it won’t be so hard. But I will tell you almost twenty years on the other side of my decision to follow Jesus and enter that covenant relationship, that it is all worth it.

Finally, if you’re not a Christian and don’t know about making a decisions to follow him, don’t feel pressured into making a decision. Take the time needed to examine the evidence of Jesus. Take the time to work through what this all means. Take the time to count the cost of this decision, because this is the biggest decision you’ll ever make. It will alter your life in ways that you can’t imagine. I never pictured myself where I am today, or the things that God has brought me through, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I would love to talk with you about it and share with you all that I have learned from my walk with God these almost twenty years. 

God is calling us into a right relationship with him. Some of us need to go deeper, some of us need to start, and some of us need to weigh the prospect of it all. Let us all move forward in a truthful way, so we may experience the God who has done everything for us to bring us into a covenant relationship with him. Amen.