If you're one of the many who began this year with a goal of reading the whole Bible, odds are you've already given up. Even if you're someone who has a pretty well-established habit of daily Bible reading, there are probably days that doesn't happen. If you're in either of those categories, that can cause some guilt. If that's you, I have some good new for you:
In the dark, he carries a bag to the garbage. Oh, but he's picking through the garbage for things to add to his bag. And he's very thin. He looks unhealthy. He's probably homeless and probably on drugs. He doesn't see the man come up behind him, but the man speaks to him. Before clubbing him in the back of the head. This is the first of several murders the man will commit.
Thus begins an interesting new project from apologists and police detectives J Warner Wallace (of Cold-Case Christianity fame) and his son Jimmy Wallace called Case Files: Murder and Meaning. Why are apologists writing crime fiction? Well, crime is what they know. But fiction, that has been used for centuries to ask the big questions.
It's popular to claim that Christ's story is just a myth, borrowed from myths, and even the first Christians didn't think it all really happened. No one really believed Hercules actually lived. The stories of Adonis and Osiris were to have happened "in the age of legends" or, as we would put it today, "once upon a time." It's silly, they say, for modern Christians to think the gospels recount actual historical events.
It's important for us as Christians to be able to explain why those claims are entirely wrong. Christ's resurrection didn't occur "once upon a time." It was the most important day in history.
There's something puzzling in the scriptures. Sometimes our salvation is spoken of in the past tense, sometimes present tense, and sometimes as future. Isn't that contradictory? How can that all be true?
Some deal with this by proposing that the past refers to our justification, the present to sanctification, and the future to glorification. In some passages, that seems to work. In others it doesn't. Let's look at a way to read those other passages and see if it clears things up.
There are 10 types of people: Those who understand binary and those who don't. OK, sorry, nerd joke. How about this one:
There are two types of people: Those who put people into groups, and those who don't. That's kind of a joke, kind of not. Sometimes it's good to see people as "just people". Dividing everyone into "us" and "them" usually ends badly for "them". But if we fail to see important distinctions, we can fail to give people what they really need.
I want to look at 12 types of people that we can find in our lives and what they need from us.
I'm staring fifty in the face. I am a reluctant member of the pain-of-the-day club. Tinnitus has been my constant companion for many years. Yet I wake up at the drop of a pin. While getting older isn't optional, getting wiser is, so it's worth asking whether I've learned anything in the years the Lord's given me to travel this earth that's made the trip worthwhile.
"The arrogance of Christians is astounding. How can Christians think their way is the only right way? All of these other religions think they're right, too. What makes Christians think they're special?"
It's a fair question, but it seems to come with an implied "they're not". That's because of a fundamental misunderstanding about the Christian faith.
Some years ago a skeptic made the oft quoted statement, "Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings."1 Of course, we could fairly reply that science builds bombs and religion builds hospitals, but the truth is that a lot of evil has been done in the name of religion. Much evil has been done in the name of Christ.
How do we answer the charge that "faith" is a force that leads people to do awful, irrational things?
I know you feel like this sometimes: There are so many things that need to be done for the Kingdom. There's a world full of people who need to hear the gospel. There's spiritual warfare that needs to be fought. There are young believers who need to be discipled. There are children who need homes, hungry who need food, hurting who need comfort. But what can I do? I'm weak. I have no special gifts or talents. I don't know how to do things like that. I can't do anything.
As followers of Christ, we should want the word of God to inform our political views, and when we try to do that, one of the first things we are faced with is that there is no political party who gets it all right. Last time we looked at some things the Bible doesn't say. This time, let's look at what it does say and wrestle a bit with how we apply that in our world.
The Bible rarely speaks directly to our political issues, so believers are free to work out their own political views. Obviously we really should let the scriptures shape our political views, but that's a lot of work and much harder than simply mining the Bible for proof texts to support our preexisting views. Many even dispense with the prooftexts, instead using vague, loosely Christian sentiments to ground their political views. OK, that's their right. If you're going to do that, though, be careful that you don't make an all-too-common mistake.
I was about twenty when I decided I really needed to sit down and read through the Bible. I can't tell you how many times I've read through it since then, and yet I am continually coming across passages I don't remember ever having read before. I know I've read them, but the Bible is just so big it's hard to contain it all in your head.
It's easy to forget how massive the Bible is; after all, you can get a version that will fit in your pocket. But when it's printed like a normal book, meaning proper paper and readable font ... well, Crossway used to publish it as a six-volume set. That's a lot to remember. Fortunately the church has produced a way to help us keep the most important things at the forefront.
Jesus' Parable of the Sower is a lot to chew on. In some ways it can be a little terrifying. But it also raises an interesting question in my mind, one I'd like to set before you.
The darkness is hungry. She doesn't know, but she can feel the danger, so she hurries. He doesn't mind; he enjoys the hunt. He enjoys her fear. He wants her to know he's there. When he is almost upon her, a door opens, and she rushes in. The door shuts behind her, and he can do no more. She is safe from him, at least this night.
In much vampire lore, the creatures of the night cannot enter a home uninvited. There is something about a home that protects us from them. It turns out there's some truth behind the mythology.
When someone is passionate about something, you can't help but notice. When they talk about it, some of their enthusiasm might even be infectious. Their interest can make the topic interesting.
I want that to be us. Let's get Christians to be passionate about something in particular. I came across an idea that I want to put before you: Make the Bible your hobby.
It's the early second century, and you've been arrested for being a Christian. You're taking the long road from Antioch in Syria to Rome. Your captors decide to remain in one place for a little while. How do you spend the time? Why, writing letters of course.
What would you write about? Religious freedom? Pleas for help? If you're Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, you write about church unity. He wrote to six churches and one bishop to exhort them to stand strong against division and heresy. But the most interesting things in his letters may be his off-hand comments.
Do you have a favorite way to present the gospel? There are lots of good ways to do it, but I've come upon one that I think really has a special appeal.
It's been over 20 years since The Da Vinci Code burst onto the scene, providing millions with reasons to doubt Christianity. There has long been a cottage industry for providing such reasons, but The Da Vinci Code was bigger than anything that came in the century before it. It's been thoroughly debunked, but there are still people who choose to believe its myths. This should have taught us that the enemies of Christianity are completely willing to traffic in lies, half-truths, and distortions.
At that time, a skeptic had to convince a major publisher to give him a forum. The internet has changed that. Now we have memes on social media and things like YouTube, TikTok, and podcasts that can give an appearance of credibility to ideas that do not warrant it. The modern world is full of dangerous people and dangerous ideas, but it also provides tools to combat them.
