LifeChange

The Bible - specific revelation

The knowledge of God’s existence, character and moral law which comes through creation to all humanity is often called general revelation. Yesterday we said the Bible is not needed for any of those items. So is there anything the Bible is needed for?

Yes. God also has spoken specific words to specific people throughout history, and He wants to speak specifically into our life today. These words are called specific revelation and it’s these words that are included in the Bible. There are three very important and critical areas that one can only get from reading God’s Words in the Bible. 

1. The Gospel. Only through the Bible can one discover and understand the path God has provided for salvation: you must believe in and call upon Jesus Christ to be saved (Romans 10:13-17). The Bible is clear that the only way to be reconciled to God is through Jesus Christ. There is no other way of dealing with the guilt of our sin before a holy God (John 14:6, 1 Timothy 2:5-6.) This is not something someone can understand apart from the Words of God.
    
2. Maintaining spiritual life. In multiple places the Bible equates the Word of God as spiritual nourishment (Deuteronomy 32:47, Matthew 4:4, 1 Peter 1:23-2:2.) As we read God’s word it causes us to grow and maintain our walk with Him. God’s word also has an uncanny ability to be alive, active and speak into very specific areas of our life that we would otherwise ignore or be deceived in. 
   
   
3. Understanding God’s will. All people ever born have some knowledge of God’s will through their consciences, however this knowledge is often vague and cannot give certainty. The Bible however gives clear and definite statements about the will of God for our lives (Deuteronomy 29:29, Psalm 1:1, 119:1, 1 John 5:3.) God will often times use His word to speak directly into circumstances and situations we find ourselves in. 

2 Timothy 3:16-17 gives a good summary of why the Bible is important for us to read:

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

It’s important we read the Bible not because it’s expected of us, or we are obligated to, or it’s what a good Christian does. We should read the Bible expecting that God, our Creator and Father, will meet with us and speak directly to our hearts and minds. The most important discipline someone can establish in their walk with God is a daily, consistent time in His Word. 

So how to start? Get a Bible, notebook/journal and pen, then: 

1. Pray and ask God to make His word come alive and speak to you. 
2. Read the book of Mark or go to YouVersion.com and start a Bible reading plan. 
3. Make note of questions, items that stand out or anything God speaks to you through His word. Talk these over with someone else.

The Bible - not needed to learn about God

Yesterday I shared some of the questions I've wrestled with in the past about why I should read the Bible.  Many Christians don't read the Bible on a regular basis.  Why is that?  Maybe the Bible isn't really necessary, maybe we can learn about God without it?

Let’s acknowledge that there are a lot of things we can learn without the Bible. Here are three: 

1. To know God exists. Almost all religions and people would acknowledge that God (in some form) exists. Simply by observing people and nature there is evidence of God. The Bible itself even says that there is evidence of God in His creation all around us (Psalm 19:1, Acts 14:16-17, Romans 1:19-12.) 
2. To understand moral laws. Most people know something of God’s moral laws. Every human has a consciousness that speaks to them on what is right and wrong. This is important as it allows people, regardless of their faith, to work alongside one another and co-exist in matters of civil law, community, basic ethics for business, and acceptable patterns of conduct in ordinary life. 
3. To know some things about God’s character. As is evident from various religions throughout history, there are several aspects of God’s character that people generally understand: they know God exists, that He is their Creator, that they owe him obedience, and that they often times come up short or sin against Him. Systems of sacrifice that are often found in primitive religions (and even this mindset in most people today, of trying to earn God’s approval) is evidence of people understanding these aspects of God. By observing nature people throughout history have also come to the conclusion that God is loving, forgiving and a provider. 

So if we can understand all the above about God without the Bible, is there anything the Bible uniquely can speak to us about?  We'll explore that question tomorrow.

The Bible - needed or not?

This past week I've been thinking about the Bible.  More specifically I've been thinking about how Christians are always told they should read the Bible but many don't on a regular basis.  Why is that?  Here are some common questions I would say most people, even Christians, have surrounding the Bible:

• Is it really necessary?  
• It hasn't been updated in nearly two thousand years, is it really relevant to my life today?
• Why read it when I can learn about it every week at church?  My pastor usually is able to explain it more clearly then I understand it.
• There is a plethora of Christian music, books, websites, high quality Bible preaching, and teaching available online and television throughout the week. Can’t we learn about God and how to live from these other sources?
• I'm overwhelmed by it.  Where would I even start?

I've asked all these questions before, and have used them all as excuses for not opening the Bible.  For a long time I only read the Bible because I was supposed to.  People always told me to, it's what a good Christian is supposed to do.  Obligation and guilt drove my Bible reading.  

There are a lot of things we can learn about God without even opening a Bible.  Tomorrow I'm going to explore some of these items.  Perhaps we'll come to the conclusion that we can learn enough about God from other sources that the Bible is no longer necessary?  

If you read the Bible, why do you do it?  If not, why not?

LifeKids Summer Camp Video 2010

We had a great week with the LifeKids Mega Sports camp we hosted at the Boys & Girls Club.  Here is a short video from the week.  

Favorite Father's Day Song: Lead Me by Sanctus Real

I just started hearing this song about a month ago on Air1.  An amazing song appropriate for Father's Day that talks about the important role we as father's have in our family.  The story behind the song is in the second video.  I encourage you to watch it as I think the struggle that led to this song is one many of us face.

God Loving 6.8 Billion People, Really?

As of May 10, 2010 the human population of the world is estimated to be 6.8 billion people according to the US Census Bureau.  Can God really love 6.8 billion people?  For a long time I thought that seemed unreasonable and a ridiculous idea.

Three years ago this month was when we brought our first adopted son Noah home from Ethiopia.  We immediately fell in love with him and never thought twice about him looking different or not being our biological child.  Last year as we prepared to bring our two girls home from Rwanda this question went through my mind "I love Noah so much, I'm not sure I'll be able to love these two girls in the same way?"  It didn't seem feasible how I could love two other children with the same amount of love that I had for my first son. 

Now that Maya and Keira are home, I can say I do.  I love each of my children completely and individually.  Going from 1 to 3 kids didn't divide my love, but it increased my capacity to love in a way that I couldn't have imagined.  I'm crazy about each of my kids and fully love each of them.

If I can do this with three children, then I have no doubt God can do this with every person on the earth.  Before having kids I never really understood, now I do. 

God loves you.

We Lost Noah & What I Learned About God

Two weeks ago it happened... Courtney and I were standing in our garage talking to a friend from church and Noah disappeared.  The kids were all playing in the garage around us while we were talking and we didn't notice that Noah snuck off.  It was probably five minutes before we realized he was gone.  At first we went out into the driveway looking for him and asking the neighbor kids if they saw him, he was no where to be found.  We then got more worried and a frantic search began.  All the worst case scenarios start going through your mind... what if he is hurt, what if someone took him, what if he is lost and wondering in the middle of some busy street.  You immediately start thinking through all the scenarios of him getting hurt or worse and how bad of parents we are.  Our frantic search lasted about 10 minutes until a neighbor from the next street over came carrying him down the street.  It was the most scary event so far of my life as a parent.

Later I was reflecting on how it happened.  Then I thought about the stories Jesus told in Luke 15 to demonstrate how God the Father searches for us as His children.  He talks about a shepherd that leaves 99 sheep to go find the one that is lost and a woman who looses a coin and searches her entire house, turning it upside down to find the lost coin.  I now understand these stories and the point Jesus was trying to make in a way that I never have before.  I realized that as desperately as I was searching for Noah, God my Father pursued me in even a greater way before I knew Him.  The great thing about God is that He never stops pursuing you and me.  If you're far from God right now, God is searching for you in the same way.  Will you turn to Him and be found?

What Potty Training Has Taught Me About God

Mother's Day is coming up and it's got me thinking about the privilege Courtney and I have to be parents to three amazing children. Also, parenting has caused me to learn more about God than almost any other experience in my life.  Thought I'd share a few of the lessons I've learned this week.

 With children ages 1, 2 and 3 we have been in potty training mode for about the last 3 months and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.  Currently our middle child Maya is having the most success so here are four parallels God has shown me about potty training Maya and my relationship with Him:

1. When Maya says "potty" I drop everything and immediately take her to the bathroom.  What do I do when God tries to get my attention or I hear His voice?  Do I have the same urgency and place the same priority on His voice as I do Maya's?  Too often I think I tell God to wait, or make a mental note to talk with Him when it's convenient for me, or just ignore Him all together. How do you respond to God's voice?
2. Maya sitting on the potty, especially when she's successful, makes our other two children want to sit on the potty as well.  Does the way I live my life make others want to imitate what I'm doing?  The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians "I urge you to imitate me." (1 Corinthians 4:16)  Can I in good conscious tell others to imitate my life?  How about you?
3. To maximize the chances potty training success we've learned that we must always have potties setup, ready for immediate use and stocked with toilet paper.  If Maya goes to the bathroom and she can't quickly get to her potty we'll probably have an accident.  Am I spending time with God on a regular basis, building my faith and trust in Him, strengthening my relationship with Him before a crisis or storm comes... or am I waiting until my life is falling apart and then trying to do those things.  Are you waiting for a storm to get serious with God, or are you pursuing Him now?
4. In addition to using the potty, teaching Maya to empty the potty, properly dispose of the toilet paper and flush the big toilet is critical. If not you may have a child successfully using the potty but still have a big, stinky mess on your hands.  Do we teach people how to respond biblically after they create a mess?  Or do we focus only on directing people how to live right and avoid sin? Not sure about you, but I make a mess in my life sometimes and I need to know how to respond properly when those times happen.  
   In case you find yourself in this situation, here is a good model to follow:  confess to God, repent before God, confess to someone else, let them pray for you and hold you accountable, and put practical safeguards in your life in that area.  Moving forward focus on being full of God and not trying to manage the sin that just happened.

Who are you praying for? Don't give up!

Who in your life that doesn't know God do your pray for regularly?  Are there people that seem far from God or seem so opposed to Jesus that you're certain they'll never have a relationship with Christ?  It can be tempting to give up on these people after months and even years of praying for them, loosing any faith or hope you have that they would one day know Christ.

Today I want to encourage you to keep hoping and believing in faith.  All it takes is a single word or encounter with Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God to change a person's life forever.

I read today about Saul.  If there was anyone in the Bible that seemed so opposed to the early church, such an enemy of the followers of Christ, such a lost cause then it was Saul.  We are first introduced to him Acts 8:1 where he is watching and approving the stoning and death of a man named Stephen.  Then a few sentences later it says Saul began to destroy the church.  To remind us that this wasn't just a short lived hobby of his, in Acts 9:1 it tells us that Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples.  If there was ever a person that one would loose hope for ever knowing Christ, then Saul was that person.

As Acts 9 continues though we see a beautiful sequence of events.  Saul has a powerful encounter with Jesus Christ and his life is changed forever.  In Acts 9:19 we see him being baptized, and then in verse 20 it says that at once he began to preach that Jesus is the Son of God.

Saul goes from an enemy of the church, to it's strongest supporter.  From persecutor to proclaimer of the resurrected Jesus Christ.  From murder to a man who one day will be a martyr for his faith.

If it's possible for Saul to have his life radically changed and to become a follower of Christ, then it's also possible for the person you're praying for.  Don't give up.  Keep hoping, believing and standing in faith.  All it takes is one encounter with Christ... maybe today will be the day!

Free Church Resources from Life Church

One of the greatest joys I have, besides serving the people at Life Church, is working with other churches in Indianapolis and across the country.  I have been encouraged to see churches across this country break down denominational and doctrinal walls, and overcome stereotypes that have often times divided the Church.  Jesus prayed in John 17:23 "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."  For too long the mission and witness of the Church has been hindered by division, disunity and competition.  I see that coming to an end.

 We just launched a new website where we will make available much of what we use at Life Church.  Everything on the site is FREE for other churches, ministries and individuals to use.  All we ask is that you do the same and work with other churches that can benefit from what you have to advance God's Kingdom.