Should the Bible be taken literally?

Here is a subject that surely would draw some controversy in some circles. Should the Bible be taken literally? Let's start by saying that there are some parts of the Bible, however the minority, that are obviously not literal. Examples are the book of Revelation and parts of Ezekiel. These are recognized by all as figurative language written in an apocalyptic style that was common in the first century, but not so much understood today. But there are many places, times, people and instructions given in the Bible that are entirely literal and should be taken as factual and true. Here are a few examples of this, many of which are not generally accepted in today's world: Genesis 1: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...." He did just that. We are to take this as fact. We could discuss all day the timing of this and the correlation with scientific studies, but what the Bible says is true. Sin: This is not a relative or subjective term, where we bend the rules to suit ourselves. Note Galatians 5:19: "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambition, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." I doubt this is intended to be a complete list, but it seems complete enough for now. We surely don't want to be guilty of these things. Remember that God always provides a way of escape from temptation..... and a way of redemption from our past sins for the truly repentant, i.e.,the blood of Jesus! Time and length will limit this list. But other matters that are clearly taught in the New Testament but are not being followed by many "Christians" are taking of the Lord's Supper regularly, baptism for the remission of our sins, church organization; these are all matters that are clearly and forcefully taught in the Bible that are not being taken literally by many Christians and churches. We must follow what God teaches on these and other matters. And the Bible is understandable. We must study it.....and follow it. Thanks for reading! (please pardon the lack of paragraphs; for some reason the computer will not allow such at this time--aren't computers great?)

Egypt

Here are two thoughts to consider. More than any other statement made by God in the Bible is this: "I AM the Lord." In reading the Old Testament, one will find that God said this more than any other thing. It was so important to Him that we know this one thing. Usually He would say it in conjunction with something else; for example, "I did (such and such) that you will know that I AM the Lord." And it is always I AM. There is no "I was" or "I will be." With God is it is always, "I AM." And Jesus talked in the same way. He said, "I AM the light of the world." "I AM the way, the truth, the life."


The second point here is that God often used the expression in the Old Testament, "I AM the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt." I would suggest to you that "out of Egypt" is a good thing. Throughout the Old Testament we read where people went into Egypt when they had to "get out of Dodge." In some cases there was a famine elsewhere, such as the case in Genesis 12 where Abram (Abraham) went down to Egypt; it wasn't long before he came "out of Egypt." And Jesus was taken to Egypt by his parents to avoid the Herod's attempt to kill him; he came out as soon as it was safe. Jeremiah was told by God not to go to Egypt near the end of his life, but he was essentially kidnapped by the people and forced to go. And, of course, the Hebrew people were enslaved in Egypt for about 400 years; and it was only through God's help that they were able to escape. Going to Egypt had its place; but leaving Egypt generally, perhaps always, was a good thing.

I was able to go to Egypt in 2009, thankful for the opportunity. I got to go "out of Egypt;" and just my personal feelings: that felt great! You can go to Egypt to see a pyramid up close, or a camel, or a lot of sand. But I am done. Have a great week!

Evolution and the Bible

Before another word, let me say that I am not an expert on Evolution. I don't have all the answers and make no pretense of such. With that out of the way, some people say that it is evolution vs the Bible, science vs the Bible, etc. I am here to tell you that is wrong and to say a little of what the Bible speaks about the beginnings of the universe.


We know that the Bible begins with "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
That ends the argument of who created what. But what about evolution and Darwin's theory, and the multiple theories to follow over the years? I would suggest to you that you believe in evolution; and I will assure you that I believe in evolution. The problem comes in the definition of what we are talking about.


Darwin went to the islands and saw creatures that had evolved, had changed to adapt to the local environment. He drew conclusions from this and created his theory of evolution. The problem with that is that he went too far. But we can see in our world today examples of evolution that cannot be denied. A good example is the snowshoe rabbit. He is still a rabbit, but because he dwells in the snowy arctic, he has changed, adapted by becoming a white rabbit with huge feet to allow him to run (hop) in the snow. Examples like this can be seen throughout nature. Even people change over time to adapt to their environment. (Isn't this fun!)


But the Bible speaks directly to this subject. Genesis 1:24: "Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind': and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good." Notice the emphasis on "according to its kind" here. This is repeated several times to show that there is no crossing of kinds; i.e., cats are cats, dogs are dogs, and there is no crossing over. There is no evolution over a thousand years or a milliion years of a cat becoming a dog. You see the point and likely agree. Thus, there is evolution within the "kind", the species. Now, there are lots of unanswered questions on this subject, but enough for today. Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Temptation and Sin

Temptation and sin are subjects that affect us all. We all struggle with this from time to time; certainly I do. James 1:12 says "Blessed is the man who endures temptation..." Verse 13, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God' " And verse 14, "But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren." But we are deceived, aren't we? We deceive ourselves sometimes, convincing ourselves that it will be ok, that no one will be hurt, that no one will know, that it will make us happy. That is all a lie. And it is the devil's lie; he wants us to be deceived.

Note the next verse in the passage; James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights..." I think this is trying to tell us that if it isn't from God, we don't want it; it will kill us, bring us death. There is a tv commercial running now for Yellowood where an old guy at the end says, "If it hasn't got a yellow tag on the wood, you don't want it." Well, that may be baloney, but James is right when he says that only if it is from God do you want it.

Finally, let us remember verse 12 when it says, "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." And that, my dear friend, is what we all want! See you next week. Be good.

Nehemiah

The story of Nehemiah is a fascinating one. He lived during the Persian Empire, around 425 B.C. and was a Jewish servant of Artaxerxes, king of Persia. The Israelite, Jewish, people had been in captivity and dispersed from their homeland for a long time, but some had been allowed to go home to Jerusalem. Now in Nehemiah chapter 2, we see Nehemiah is sad before the king because he realizes that the wall of Jerusalem has not been restored, and he feels greatly that this needs to be done.

The first lesson we learn here is that before doing anything, Nehemiah prays to God. This would be a great first step for us as we contemplate taking on some task. God actually cares and will direct our lives if we but let him.


Then Nehemiah asks the king if he can return to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall. He is granted this opportunity. We see that Nehemiah has prepared himself for this very difficult task; we need to do the same. We need to be prepared for whatever opportunity comes our way; prepare ourselves well to meet the challenges ahead, especially if we are seeking to do God's will.

The story goes on to show that Nehemiah faces lots of opposition from people outside his ranks and even some from within. Anytime we take on a challenge for good, we will face opposition; the devil will see to it. But with God's help we can overcome and persevere.

The wall was completed in 52 days! That is amazing. It had sat in ruins for so many years. We can, with God's help, turn ruined things, ruined lives, sometimes total destruction into something good, something complete, something pleasing to God. Let us prepare ourselves, look for the opportunity to serve, not be deterred by the opposition, and build for God. If you can, take the time to read the book of Nehemiah--it is a great read.


Thanks for tuning in. I hope you have a great week!

Vision Into Heaven

Most people are hesitant to spend much time in the book of Revelation because it is complicated, and it raises many questions of the meaning. But much of the book is very clear and has great meaning to us as Christians. The Bible ends with this Revelation, this view directly into heaven. The introduction tells us that Jesus reveals these things to John who is on the Isle of Patmos. Patmos is a Greek Island, quite rocky and still there today. The book describes many things that are yet to come; and we can't cover all of that here. But it is especially interesting to look at the throne scenes in chapters 4 and 5. In 4, there is a view of the Father on the throne. In chapter 5, we see Jesus there on the throne and some of the things that are going on around Him. The reader should spend a few minutes reading these two chapters. Nowhere else in this life can one get a vision into heaven like this.


Note these passages in the book of Revelation, chapters 19-22: "Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True...He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God" (19:11,13). "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.....and anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire" (20:11-15). "Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband...And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" (21:2-4). "There shall be no night there; They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever" (22:5). This is such a beautiful and powerful vision into what awaits us, as Jesus promised.

Let's make sure that we are there, that we serve Him in the way He wants here on earth...during our short time here. Thanks for reading. Have a great week!

Everything Happens For A Reason? Or does it?

We all hear this expression often. "Everything happens for a reason." No, it really doesn't; not in the way most people mean it. This is not Bible teaching; this is man's reasoning. But when you really think about it, it isn't reasonable.

Before looking at what the Bible says, let's consider a case: A man is tired, but wants to take a walk along a cliff. He knows that this is dangerous and especially so since he is very tired and a bit wobbly today. Still, he decides that he will take the chance. He walks the walk, stumbles on a loose rock and falls to his death. Should we say, "well, everything happens for a reason?" If we mean, as most people do, that this is God's plan or is in some higher scheme, it was "meant to be," we are missing the point. The reason for this death is that the man made a poor choice, and the laws of nature (gravity, etc) took over.

Now here is what the Bible tells us: In Ecclesiastes 9:11, the wise man Solomon, with God's guiding hand, tells us, "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all. For man also does not know his time; like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them." Thus we learn that things happen, evil happens. And it isn't always God making things happen. We learn here that sometimes we are "just in the wrong place at the wrong time." For example, a tornado hits a neighborhood; 10 people are killed. Are they all bad, are they all good? Did God do this? The Bible tells us that this is not the case. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5:45, the Father "makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust."

But we must also know that God can and does direct our lives. He does get involved; otherwise, there would be no teaching on the value and importance of prayer. We see all through the Bible that God does care...and He takes action when it is His will to do so. But let's not take the position that everything happens because God wants it to; that isn't so. Sometimes things happen because of other factors, like poor choices, or sometimes it is the work of the devil; like a murder, or a DUI driver hits a car and kills innocent people.

Finally, to end on an up note, let's remember that God loves us, loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die for us (Jn 3:16), and He tells us in Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God...."

Thanks for reading. You are important! See you next week.