Reaffirming Reasons for the Christian Life Journey

This week I am beginning to explore a book written by a former classmate, Wiley Graf, (or I should say – Dr. Wiley Graf), from my hometown of Barberton, Ohio. Looking back even to elementary school in 5th and 6th grade I can say I was impressed with his intelligence. So when I reconnected with him on Facebook over a year ago I was not surprised in the least that he taught engineering. His first book which I have been looking forward to is – 100 Reasons To Believe the Bible is the Word of God.

In my blog I discuss a variety of topics often relating to positive psychology which is a passion of mine as well as topics of living an abundant life. I have been open here and in my book, Living More Than OK, that I come at life from a Christian worldview. It is my worldview of belief in Christ as the answer to ultimate meaning, that draws me to books such as Wiley has written. He brings out in his forward the importance of Christians having a foundation of evidence for why they believe. I am thankful when I was a teen my pastor pointed me to authors such as Josh McDowell and Francis Schaeffer who provided sound thinking for a Christian philosophy of life to provide evidence to show that the Bible was trustworthy. Wiley here in his book builds on their work.

In perusing through his book it is no surprise with a scientific mind of an engineer, he first speaks to the laws of thermodynamics which relates so well to the Biblical message on creation. Those were always points of thought I held onto during high school science classes and college science courses that promoted the theory of macro-evolution. It is a theory not a proven fact. Why else would atheists have such wild ideas as Dawkins has speculated that space aliens brought initial life to earth -- check out his speculations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abugiGHOHg0

I won’t go through all 100 reasons here as I want you to buy his book. I will simply touch on a couple that stood out to me. The reader will appreciate a wide variety of examples from science, history and archaeology he uses in his book. My favorite is how he brings out several times the nation of Israel as a reason to believe the Bible. In one of my times of doubt, I pondered the overarching story of the Jews in the Bible. If you think about it here is this small people group, God chose for the Savior of the world to come through. During their whole history nations have tried to destroy them. Yet many initial enemies are no longer in existence such at the Amorites, Hittites and many other “ites”. Just from that standpoint it is a miracle the Jewish people survived through the ages and are now a nation again surrounded by enemies who want to destroy them. Think about it. Maybe the Bible is true. Also think about this. Why are so many people and nations against Israel?

Then another reason I enjoyed seeing is more experiential. It is the reason of “changed lives”. Reading what Wiley has to say took me back to my days in Chicago at Moody Bible Institute with Dr. James. One day Dr. James reminded us in days of spiritual doubt to remember times when God has answered prayer in our lives. No skeptic can take that away. If the Christian takes time they will see how belief in Christ has changed their lives with little and big miracles in their life journey.

Wiley’s book provides the believer in Christ solid thoughtful reasons to be secure in their Christian faith. Sometimes in doubt you need a reaffirmation and Wiley’s book can be a useful intellectual tool for that. The Bible points out that having a defense for why you believe in Christ is important. Here are a few examples:

1 Peter 3:15 but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

2 Corinthians 10:5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ

Acts 17:15-34 -- Paul here debates with a group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in Athens. Their response revealed that some believed and others replied “We want to hear you again on this subject.” Which shows it is important to be open in sharing while you believe in Christ but do so in a way that keeps the door open to dialogue. Too many times Christians browbeat and turn people off to Christ.

100 Reasons To Believe is a belief in Christ strengthener. It can help you as a Christian when you come up against the modern myth calling Christians “Believers”. That is a pet peeve of mine when I hear media types or the new atheists saying that. What does that mean “Believers”? It is often said in a snarky tone like Christians are leaving their brains at the door. Think about it—everyone is a Believer. It is just we believe different things. The Hindu believes the divine truth comes from the Vedas and they experience numerous reincarnations until they are absorbed into the divine. Is there factual proof for that? No, it is a belief. Atheists, are they believers? They try to pretend their thought is based on science. No -- they BELIEVE in inanimate matter that has either always been here or popped into being by chance. Their real belief is in random chaotic chance full of fiction stories of big bangs and macro evolution of a piece of slime plus millions of years turning into man. I am sorry there is no proof -- it is a belief. Go back to the Dawkin’s Youtube link I provided above. I read Darwin’s Origen of the Species back in high school and all that went through my mind was -- what an imagination! No proof. Christians are believers as well. We believe that God has revealed Himself in the Bible and personally through the person of Jesus Christ. We believe contrary to other religions that are focused on man trying to reach God; the Bible shows a loving God reaching down to man. Can I prove that? No, I readily admit that. But books such as Wiley Graf’s 100 Reasons To Believe provide a person with evidence to weigh against other worldviews and personally the Christian view makes the most sense to me.

Of course Christians need to remember what I have heard from Ravi Zacharias live and in his writings. Apologetic reasons are helpful but all discourse and lifestyle needs to be based in showing the love of Christ. Letting God’s Love show can win a person over more than all the arguments.

If you are a non-Christian reader I am simply stating my worldview here. I hope you can feel like the Epicurean philosophers and say “We want to hear you again on this subject.” I encourage you to check out books like Wiley’s and keep an open mind in your search for truth.

Reflection: Think over your personal Worldview-- be it Buddhist, Atheist, Hindu, Christian or whatever. Why do you believe what you believe and how does it help you on your life journey? Check out Dr. Wiley Graf’s website 100-reasons-2-believe.com

Conversing With God

Foter

This past weekend by family and I attended a “Biblical Spiritual Disciplines for Real People” conference at our church, Oakwood Baptist, in New Braunfels. Texas. The Speaker was Dr. Donald Whitney of Southern Baptist Seminary in Kentucky. The topics focused in on two disciplines of prayer and Bible study. Dr. Whitney spoke with a sincere passion for the importance of spiritual growth. This week in the blog I want to share some thoughts from his talk on prayer.

My favorite section was his teaching on prayer as he opened my mind to a concept of prayer I had not heard of before. The concept was “Praying the Bible”. He started by saying we commonly pray about 6 main categories: family, our future, finances, work or school work, Church or ministry and current crises we find ourselves in. These 6 relate to our lives and that is fine as our lives are important to God. Yet he kept repeating the idea that we slack off in prayer because of a common problem. The problem is we continue to pray often the same words day after day saying the same old things. Therefore prayer tends to become boring and we give up praying, thinking the problem is us. Instead of self-blame he encouraged us to rework our method of praying to add vitality to it. That is where “Praying the Bible” comes to play.

The prayer method of “Praying the Bible” is not complicated. Actually it came across as simple, which I like as my mind likes simple methodologies. Before your prayer time you simply choose a passage of scripture from the Bible. Dr. Whitney encouraged the use of the Psalms but mentioned it can be used with other passages from the Bible as well. After you choose a passage or Psalm you read it over and then start your prayer using key verses from the passage God places on your heart to guide your prayer.

Foter

For example let’s say I choose Psalm 63 (NKJV)
1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.
2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.3 Because Your loving-kindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You. 4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
6 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.
7 Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8 My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek my life, to destroy it, Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10 They shall fall by the sword; They shall be a portion for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him shall glory; But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

With this Psalm you may want to begin praying how you are thirsty to experience the reality of God’s presence in your life. Possibly God will bring to mind some friends or family who are experiencing a desert time in their lives so pray for refreshment for your spirit and theirs. You may then move into a section of thankfulness for God’s loving-kindness and seek to be an example of God’s love to those you meet in your workplace. With these few thoughts, you probably get the gist of what the concept of the method is getting at, in praying through a scripture passage.

Personal photo

Dr. Whitney gave everyone a time to try the method out with various passages of scripture. Many felt it was like a true conversation with God. Which if one believes as we Christians do, that the Bible is God’s Word to us; then by using a passage of the Bible as the foundation of a prayer it truly is an opportunity to allow God to speak to our hearts and minds spiritually. This also solves the initial stated problem of people giving up on prayer as they get bored with praying the same old things in the same old way day after day. With a different Bible passage each day we are allowing God to guide our prayers in new ways each day.

Dr. Whitney has several excellent books on spiritual growth that can be found on his website. He also offers free articles on a variety of spiritual growth topics. His website is biblicalspirituality.org. I would encourage you to check out some of the information he has available for your spiritual growth journey.

Reflection: Try “Praying the Bible” out by choosing a Psalm and using that as a guide for a prayer. Go to Dr. Whitney’s website and click on Resources and then click on Articles. Read an article of your own choosing and reflect over what is being said in the article.

Appreciating a Worldwide Best Seller

Recently my wife and I attended a “Read The Bible For Life” conference our church sponsored. The speaker was Dr. George Guthrie of Union University in Tennessee. The presentation is an outgrowth of his book, Reading The Bible For Life: Your Guide to Understanding & Living God’s Word. The book is conversational in tone as he presents information on the foundations of interpreting the Bible, the Old and New Testaments , and understanding the Bible in modern contexts. The book I say is conversational as it is based on his interviewing of other top Biblical scholars on the various topics.

The Best Seller The Bible

Photo credit: WELS.net / Foter / CC BY-NC

In the beginning of the conference Dr. Guthrie reminded us that the Bible is a perennial best seller. Every year over 25 million copies of the Bible are sold in the US and about 100 million are sold around the world. Those numbers surpass the best sellers on the New York Times best seller list. I just happened to look at the New York Times list as I was writing this to see what book was number one today. This week the fiction number 1 is CONCEALED IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb and the number 1 non-fiction is THE MONUMENTS MEN, by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter. These change from week to week but the Bible keeps selling regularly.
It is amazing to consider the uniqueness of the Bible. It is a compilation of 66 books of which 39 are from the Old Testament and 27 from the New Testament. The authors came from various geographical areas and the writing occurred over a time span of about 1,500 years. Yet from the Christian perspective there is a unity that connects the books together. That unity is the message that there is a personal God who is seeking a loving relationship with humankind that has turned their backs in rejection to God.

Literary Styles in the Bible

Photo credit: Waiting For The Word / Foter / CC BY

Dr. Guthrie empathized that the Bible has a variety of literary styles within it. That needs to be considered as we are reading it. The Old Testament has the richness of the historical stories of the development of the nation of Israel. There are sections of Laws that relate to helping the nation as a people form and laws that relate to all mankind. The differences need to be considered in understanding the context of the scripture passage being read. There is also the Wisdom literature of the Psalms and Proverbs that need to be read differently from the historical passages.

In the New Testament there are the first four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke , and John that tell of the life of Jesus. Each gospel author is looking at Jesus from a different perspective. Many times people will point out the differences in the gospel stories and suppose those as errors in the Bible. But if you consider it reasonably, you would expect there to be some variation with four writers taking a different perspective on a subject such as the person of Jesus. Then there are other writings in the New Testament. These books are mostly letters to Christians in the early years of the development of Christianity discussing how they should live as followers of Christ.

In the conference presentation we were reminded as we read the Bible take note of the various styles. Understand the literary style as that has an effect on interpretation. We understand that poetry of the Psalms are filled with metaphors and illustrations. Reading that is different from reading the facts of a historical narrative say in the book of Joshua or I Samuel.

Living the Bible for Life

Photo credit: Ben Lawson / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

Going back to the overarching theme of the Bible as God seeking a personal living relationship with us, we were exhorted in the conference that reading the Bible should make a difference in our lives. Consider these words from Psalms 119: 25 – 29 “ I am laid low in the dust; preserve my life according to your word. I recounted my ways and you answered me; teach me your decrees. Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders. My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word. Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your law. I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws.” I chose this set of verses for those who say the Bible is an old irrelevant book. Who has not been in a situation where they felt like they were knocked down in a dusty desert? Who has never been worn out by the burden of life’s sorrows? The Psalmist is telling us to meditate and listen for God in these low-down times. Listen for God to help strengthen your life. To learn how to preserve our life for the better we need to be living according to His Word. I like the phrase meditate on God’s wonders. Think over the amazing things about creation and your life that you know are Godwinks from Him trying to get your attention. As you ponder these in awestruck wonder you can understand the graciousness of God and then choose to follow His way of Truth.

These thoughts are just a few of many that came from attending the “Read The Bible For Life” conference. If you ever have the opportunity to hear Dr. Guthrie speak, do so as he is very passionate about Bible reading. In the meantime pick up a copy of his book, Read The Bible For Life.

Reflection:
What is your favorite Bible story or Bible character? Get out your Bible and read the story or read the passages about your favorite Bible character. What principles can you apply to your life from what you read?

Who Is Your Hero?

In the beginning of each semester in the College Success course I teach I ask the students a question, “Who is a hero that you look up to?”. Some students look quizzically at me so I explain further what I mean. Who do they admire and respect to the point that they would like to be like that person? Often the response is a family member or relative. Some mention historical figures or religious figures. Every now and then a comic book hero comes up. It is an important question as it is helpful as to how we shape our lives. Often a significant person has an effect on how we shape our lives. As we view people or read stories of people of high ethical character, courage, and creativity their stories and life examples can encourage us to improve how we live our lives.

I mention the importance of heroes as I just finished reading the book – The Heroes of Faithfulness by Steve Barckholtz. He is a former Pastor who has followed a career path that he feels God has called him to as a full-time writer. His book is an in-depth look at Hebrews chapter 11. Over the years I have heard many sermons on Sundays about Hebrews 11. Often the messages call the chapter the Bible’s Hall of Fame. The chapter is a listing of many of the famous Biblical cast of characters: Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samson, David and many others that people often look up to from the Old Testament. Is this chapter simply about hero worship of these people?

Steve in his book offers a twist on the often considered thought that this is a chapter concerning the heroes of the faith that we should look up to. He takes the reader through a personal look at each of these biblical characters showing their human failings. He reminds us that they are people just like us not to be worshiped. He then shows though, how God had a unique plan for each of them that was developed not by their own greatness but by their faith in a Faithful God. The book opens the reader’s eyes to the real hero of the chapter. The hero we should be following is God. He is the faithful one who will not disappoint and faithfully be there in our time of need.

Steve Barckholtz, by reminding us to keep our hero eyes on Jesus, we can trust Him to work out God’s plan for each of our lives. The stories that we are reminded of in Hebrews 11 are of people who followed the faithfulness of God with a deep faith and accomplished amazing things for God. Moses a man on the run for murdering an Egyptian became the man who led Israel out of bondage. David started out as a shepherd and youngest of his family but became the great King of Israel. One of my favorites, the story of Joseph who endured abuse and injustice throughout much of his life, was one who would have had every reason to turn his back on God with a chip on his shoulder. Instead Joseph kept his faith in God and was lifted up to a position to preserve Egypt and God’s people Israel during a great time of famine.

I was struck by Steve’s description for the type of faith God desires in our lives. He taps into Jesus’ parable of the Mustard seed in Matthew 13. He reminds the reader what Jesus was getting at, was not to simply stay with faith the size of a small seed but the listener in those times would understand the mustard seed would grow as he describes it, “an outrageously large, wild and unkempt tree.” (page 225). He goes on to say the God does not want us to live with minimal just getting by faith but a faith that is “large, crazy, wild and out of control”. Meaning -- out of our control but living in God’s faithful control. Living out God’s plan for our lives. That is a very challenging thought on how to live our life but it fits well my thinking which has been the basis for my blogging – Living More Than OK. We are meant for living a great life for God.

Reflection: Reflect over who is a hero in your life? What Bible character have you especially connected with in your reading of the Bible? What does it mean to you to have God as your hero? What does it mean to have a large wild and crazy faith?