A few days ago I said:
"In my next blog, I'll begin to respond to Brown's fictional claims about the unreliability of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). We'll look together at both the reliability of the Gospel accounts of Jesus life and why we can have such confidence in these accounts."
We are spending out time together looking only at the reliability of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) rather than the entire Bible for a few reasons:
1. Time. There are many, many books written on this subject and many scholars have devoted their entire professional lives studying and defending the veracity of each and every book in the Bible. We don't need to look that deeply into the subject to get a clear understanding of why we can have great confidence in the testimony of the Bible.
2. The DaVinci Code. The book makes false claims about the Bible as a whole, but much of the novel casts doubt on the reliability of what the Gospels say specifically about the life, miracles, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
So, we will focus on the four books in the Bible that deal with the life of Christ and with this plan we will hopefully kill two birds with one stone - defend the perfection and reliability of Scripture and defend the reality of Christ's divinity.
Brown writes, "The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book." (p. 231)
Is there truth in the statement above? Yes, a measure. First, the Bible partially a product of man in that God used men to pen the words on parchment. Yet, it is not only a product of man. It is a cooperative effort between God and man. I'll get to more on this in a moment. The other truth is that the Bible "did not fall magically form the clouds." This is true, but the claim that the Bible "has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions" is patently false. Yes, the Bible has been "translated" into some two thousand languages, but these translations have been created for the benefit of all who desire to read its truth and have been translated from early documents of the utmost reliability.
Let's deal with the issue of "translations, additions, and revisions" first. The original works, or "autographs," of each of the sixty six books have been lost to time. They were likely worn out by use, burned, destroyed, or time simply eroded their readability. After all, we're talking about several millennia! Yet, scribes of biblical times were trained to copy every "jot and title" precisely so that others could read the text in different regions of the known world. But, did they make mistakes? Yes. these errors were very slight and even the most pessimistic scholars generally agree that these slight errors in copying do nothing to change the meaning of the text. (We'll look at this more closely later).
Some then ask, since we don't have the original manuscripts and some errors were made, although minor, in copying the text, can we have confidence that the Bible we have today reads anything like the original manuscripts?
My quick and confident answer is "yes." Here are a few reasons for this:
1. We have well over 2000 manuscripts of the gospels alone - 2000! Some of these documents are in Greek, others in Latin. In terms of material from a scholarly perspective, two thousand manuscripts is a goldmine. Just a quick note for those of you who are wondering about the number of manuscripts we have of all the different parts of the Bible - 24,633 known copies (including fragments) of the New Testament, over 1700 copies of the Old testament (including fragments). The document with the next highest number of copies is Homer's Iliad with 643.
2. Not only do we have an unprecedented wealth of manuscripts of the Gospels, the copies we have are very old - meaning that we have very early copies. Some of our earliest fragments of the Gospels are from the second century A.D. We have complete copies of several of the Gospels from the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. You might be saying to yourself right now, "That doesn't seem very early at all. In fact, two hundred years is a long time!" You'd be right in relation to our human lifespans but you'd be wrong in relation to manuscripts of early documents. For example, the gap for Homer is 500 years, Caesar's Gallic Wars is 900-1000 years, and Herodotus The Histories is 1300 years form the writing of the original document to the first copy that we have today. The Gospels as well as the Bible in totality is truly in a class by itself from this perspective!
3. The scribes were actually remarkably reliable. Even, though the scribes were not flawless, we have such a large number of documents to work from that scholars are able to identify most of these minor errors by comparing the thousands of documents available.
4. Textual criticism, where experts seek to identify the earliest form of a given text, offers us great confidence in the Bible in its current form. The plethora of textual critics from different theological backgrounds and perspectives are in remarkable agreement on the vast majority of Scripture as it stands today. Textual critics still have differing opinions about the meaning of some fifty variations that have been found in the Bible as a whole. Scholar Philip Schaff, in response to these fifty variations states that no variation altered "an article of faith or a precept of duty which is not abundantly sustained by other and undoubted passages, or by the whole tenor of Scripture teaching."
What all of this tells us is that we can have great confidence that when we read our Bible today there is an extremely high degree of probability that we are getting the words of the original authors.
Next time, we'll look at the other assertion made by Brown's fictional character that, "The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God." We"ll find out how it is that God cooperated with man to bring the Gospels (and the rest of the Bible) into existence.
Until then...
Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Thursday, March 16, 2006
DaVinci Code: The Truth Behind the Fiction - Part 3
A Long Introduction to This Blog Series...
Many people have asked me, "Todd, is it okay for a Christian to see The DaVinci Code." You need to know before I give you my answer that I'm a movie freak! I love movies. My dream is to have my own private entertainment room with a 100" screen and a killer, HD projection system complete with surround sound and leather recliners. All this so that I can become completely enveloped by the experience and not have to worry about cell phones ringing or someone crunching popcorn loudly one chair behind me. None of this will likely happen of course but it's okay to dream!
What does this have anything to do with seeing the movie? I'm gald you asked. I will be seeing the movie. I am looking forward to seeing the movie for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that Tom Hanks is starring in the film and one of my favorite directors, Ron Howard, is directing it. I have also read the book and I think it will make a fantastic movie full of intrigue. BUT...I cannot recommend this movie or the book for young believers. The main reason lies in the fact that the author, Dan Brown, is so masterful at weaving fiction into more fiction that Brown himself believes is truth. It's very difficult to separate fiction from what Brown tries to claim is fact. So, this movie is not a good choice for people who are new to the faith. I say this not because I'm concerned that the movie might turn new believers away from their new found faith. I have far more confidence in the strength of God's Word and the power of His Spirit to guide believers into Truth than I have concerns about the fallout of a new believer seeing this film. Yet, I have seen movies or books create unnecessary detours in the lives of young Christians that will ultimately bring them back to the veracity of Scripture but take valuable time away from them in the process.
I have very little concern, however, for believers who are well grounded in the truth of Scripture watching this movie and seeing it for what it is - a work of fiction and nothing more. I, however, will not go so far as to recommend the movie for any believer regardless of the maturity of their faith. So, to all, I neither recommend the movie nor do I strongly oppose the viewing of this film, except for my concerns about young believers that I have already mentioned.
Now that I have provided my pastoral perspective on believers seeing this movie, I know that many of you reading this will be seeing this movie and will need to have an arsenal of responses to the issues that the book creates. To this reality, I'm devoting this blog series. You'll be able to refer back to these as you have conversations in the coming weeks and months.
Brown hasn't ever claimed that his book is non-fiction nor have any of the thousands of book stores placed the book in the non-fiction section (as far as I know). Bottom line - his book is a novel. yet, Brown presents much of the information in his novel about early Christianity and the life of Jesus as historical fact, when - in fact - it is not.
To further (and in my opinion purposely) confuse readers, the first page of the book has this statement, "All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate." What are we supposed to make of this statement as we begin to read the book? Clearly, Brown seems to suggest that any information pertaining to any documents in his book are true.
As a result, many, many readers view what they are reading in this fiction novel as fact. My mother, a highly intelligent Christian and critical reader, called me after reading the book and said, "Todd, I just finished The DaVinci Code and I'm a little disturbed by the things I read in the book about the Bible." I replied, "Mom, it's a fiction novel." To this she said, "I understand, but the author claims that anything he writes about church documents including the Bible is true...he says so on the front page." My mother's call was the first time I had heard about the claims on the first page of the book. I reassured her that the book was fiction but that I would read it and get back with her about her concerns when I finished the book. Sure enough, the statement on the first page of the book led me to the same conclusion as my mother - that the information in the book about any document, including the Bible, is accurate.
So, through the power of suggestion, Brown has masterfully taken what is a fiction novel and caused many readers to believe that they will be shown an underlying "truth" as they read through the fiction. This brilliant maneuver in print has catapulted this novel into sales of over forty million! But, and I will continue to remind you, this is a fiction novel and nothing more.
To begin with, Brown uses phrases like, "All scholars know that..." which many readers take to mean that what they are ab out to read is factg rather than a statement made by a fictional character in a fictional work. So, when Brown's characters claim that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are unreliable sources of information about the life, miracles, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and further, that other early writings that are not found in the Bible such as the Gospel of Philip or The Gospel of Mary are superior sources of accurate infomration about Jesus, some readers buy into this fictional perspective as fact. I'll say it again - The DaVinci Code is a work of fiction and nothing more.
In my next blog, I'll begin to respond to Brown's fictional claims about the unreliability of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). We'll look together at both the reliability of the Gospel accounts of Jesus life and why we can have such confidence in these accounts.
Also, there is a great site where you can read or re-read the Gospels on your computer. Simply click on this link, http://www.biblegateway.org/. Keep this site on your 'favorites' list so you can go directly to the Word as we work through this series together.
I look forward to our journey together!Finally, I'm going to be weaving two blog series together in the coming weeks. This blog series on DaVinci will be coupled with a blog series on the One Campaign to end extreme poverty around the world. I hope you'll read both series as they are written!
Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
Many people have asked me, "Todd, is it okay for a Christian to see The DaVinci Code." You need to know before I give you my answer that I'm a movie freak! I love movies. My dream is to have my own private entertainment room with a 100" screen and a killer, HD projection system complete with surround sound and leather recliners. All this so that I can become completely enveloped by the experience and not have to worry about cell phones ringing or someone crunching popcorn loudly one chair behind me. None of this will likely happen of course but it's okay to dream!
What does this have anything to do with seeing the movie? I'm gald you asked. I will be seeing the movie. I am looking forward to seeing the movie for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that Tom Hanks is starring in the film and one of my favorite directors, Ron Howard, is directing it. I have also read the book and I think it will make a fantastic movie full of intrigue. BUT...I cannot recommend this movie or the book for young believers. The main reason lies in the fact that the author, Dan Brown, is so masterful at weaving fiction into more fiction that Brown himself believes is truth. It's very difficult to separate fiction from what Brown tries to claim is fact. So, this movie is not a good choice for people who are new to the faith. I say this not because I'm concerned that the movie might turn new believers away from their new found faith. I have far more confidence in the strength of God's Word and the power of His Spirit to guide believers into Truth than I have concerns about the fallout of a new believer seeing this film. Yet, I have seen movies or books create unnecessary detours in the lives of young Christians that will ultimately bring them back to the veracity of Scripture but take valuable time away from them in the process.
I have very little concern, however, for believers who are well grounded in the truth of Scripture watching this movie and seeing it for what it is - a work of fiction and nothing more. I, however, will not go so far as to recommend the movie for any believer regardless of the maturity of their faith. So, to all, I neither recommend the movie nor do I strongly oppose the viewing of this film, except for my concerns about young believers that I have already mentioned.
Now that I have provided my pastoral perspective on believers seeing this movie, I know that many of you reading this will be seeing this movie and will need to have an arsenal of responses to the issues that the book creates. To this reality, I'm devoting this blog series. You'll be able to refer back to these as you have conversations in the coming weeks and months.
Brown hasn't ever claimed that his book is non-fiction nor have any of the thousands of book stores placed the book in the non-fiction section (as far as I know). Bottom line - his book is a novel. yet, Brown presents much of the information in his novel about early Christianity and the life of Jesus as historical fact, when - in fact - it is not.
To further (and in my opinion purposely) confuse readers, the first page of the book has this statement, "All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate." What are we supposed to make of this statement as we begin to read the book? Clearly, Brown seems to suggest that any information pertaining to any documents in his book are true.
As a result, many, many readers view what they are reading in this fiction novel as fact. My mother, a highly intelligent Christian and critical reader, called me after reading the book and said, "Todd, I just finished The DaVinci Code and I'm a little disturbed by the things I read in the book about the Bible." I replied, "Mom, it's a fiction novel." To this she said, "I understand, but the author claims that anything he writes about church documents including the Bible is true...he says so on the front page." My mother's call was the first time I had heard about the claims on the first page of the book. I reassured her that the book was fiction but that I would read it and get back with her about her concerns when I finished the book. Sure enough, the statement on the first page of the book led me to the same conclusion as my mother - that the information in the book about any document, including the Bible, is accurate.
So, through the power of suggestion, Brown has masterfully taken what is a fiction novel and caused many readers to believe that they will be shown an underlying "truth" as they read through the fiction. This brilliant maneuver in print has catapulted this novel into sales of over forty million! But, and I will continue to remind you, this is a fiction novel and nothing more.
To begin with, Brown uses phrases like, "All scholars know that..." which many readers take to mean that what they are ab out to read is factg rather than a statement made by a fictional character in a fictional work. So, when Brown's characters claim that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are unreliable sources of information about the life, miracles, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and further, that other early writings that are not found in the Bible such as the Gospel of Philip or The Gospel of Mary are superior sources of accurate infomration about Jesus, some readers buy into this fictional perspective as fact. I'll say it again - The DaVinci Code is a work of fiction and nothing more.
In my next blog, I'll begin to respond to Brown's fictional claims about the unreliability of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). We'll look together at both the reliability of the Gospel accounts of Jesus life and why we can have such confidence in these accounts.
Also, there is a great site where you can read or re-read the Gospels on your computer. Simply click on this link, http://www.biblegateway.org/. Keep this site on your 'favorites' list so you can go directly to the Word as we work through this series together.
I look forward to our journey together!Finally, I'm going to be weaving two blog series together in the coming weeks. This blog series on DaVinci will be coupled with a blog series on the One Campaign to end extreme poverty around the world. I hope you'll read both series as they are written!
Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
DaVinci Code: The Truth Behind the Fiction - Part 2
I have some exciting "inside information" just for my blog subscribers. As I wrote several days ago, I told you that I would be writing several blogs in response to the DaVinci Code movie that opens May 19th in theaters around the world. Here's the scoop: Lon Solomon, the senior pastor of McLean Bible Church (http://www.mcleanbible.org/), and I are doing a three week sermon series called "Cracking the DaVinci Code." Lon and I will each create our own messages but all three messages will have the same title and the same subject matter. The titles and the order (to date) of the messages are:
Truth 1: The Resurrection Settles It All
Truth 2: The Bible Has No Political Agenda
Truth 3: Christianity Is the Best Friend Woman Ever Had
Message One will show that the resurrection of Christ Settles the matter not only of His deity (which DaVinci Code falsely claims was a later fabrication of the church) but the resurrection settles the matter of our personal sinfulness.
Message Two will show that the Bible as it exists today is the exact compilation of writings that God ordained to be in the Canon. This refutes the false claim of The DaVinci Code that the current content of the Bible is a result of the Roman Emperor Consantine's political efforts to create a state sanctioned religion for the Romans rather than a book divinely compiled by God and His people.
Message Three will show that Christianity is, above all other major religions, a friend to women. This message will counter the false claim that the early Christian church successfully hid the true role of women in both Christ's early followers as well as the first century church. Dan Brown's claim in his novel that Jesus was married grows from these false perspectives of the early church.
I hope you are able to see how this three week series will be a perfect series for your unchurched friends! Remember, begin to think now who you will invite to the series. Begin to pray now for God to use this series to bring many young Washingtonians to Frontline and ultimately into a personal relationship with Jesus.
On May 19 everyone will be talking about Jesus and asking questions about him. Will you be ready?
Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
Truth 1: The Resurrection Settles It All
Truth 2: The Bible Has No Political Agenda
Truth 3: Christianity Is the Best Friend Woman Ever Had
Message One will show that the resurrection of Christ Settles the matter not only of His deity (which DaVinci Code falsely claims was a later fabrication of the church) but the resurrection settles the matter of our personal sinfulness.
Message Two will show that the Bible as it exists today is the exact compilation of writings that God ordained to be in the Canon. This refutes the false claim of The DaVinci Code that the current content of the Bible is a result of the Roman Emperor Consantine's political efforts to create a state sanctioned religion for the Romans rather than a book divinely compiled by God and His people.
Message Three will show that Christianity is, above all other major religions, a friend to women. This message will counter the false claim that the early Christian church successfully hid the true role of women in both Christ's early followers as well as the first century church. Dan Brown's claim in his novel that Jesus was married grows from these false perspectives of the early church.
I hope you are able to see how this three week series will be a perfect series for your unchurched friends! Remember, begin to think now who you will invite to the series. Begin to pray now for God to use this series to bring many young Washingtonians to Frontline and ultimately into a personal relationship with Jesus.
On May 19 everyone will be talking about Jesus and asking questions about him. Will you be ready?
Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
Friday, March 10, 2006
DaVinci Code: The Truth Behind the Fiction - Part 1
I can't wait any longer!
I've tried to be patient...I really have. But, I just can't wait any longer! I have to start blogging about the upcoming movie, "The DaVinci Code: Seek the Truth." Over 40 million copies of the book are currently circulating out there, the movie is sure to be a blockbuster with Tom Hanks as the star and Ron Howard as the director. There are over a dozen books currently being sold and their sole purpose is to refute the claims made in a fiction novel - FICTION! The whole thing boggles my mind.
Let me now bring it a little closer to home. When the book came out several years ago, Ken Baugh, the former Teaching Pastor of Frotnline, did an eight or ten week series refuting claims in the book. The series was by far the most attended series at Frontline up to that point. On the night that Ken taught on whether or not Jesus was married, Frontline had the highest attendance in its history!
So, what can we expect this coming April and May when I do a three week series in response to the DaVinci Code? I believe we will have somewhere around a thousand unchurched people come through the doors over that three week period doing exactly what the sub-title of the movie suggests - "Seek[ing] the Truth." These thousand or more people will be coming with you, and others like you, who are inviting them to Frontline to seek the truth that is found in the Bible. This movie and the questions that it generates in the minds of unbelievers is one of the best evangelistic opportunities that has made itself available to the church in a while.
In light of this, what will go on at Frontline? First, I will be teaching three messages in response to claims made in the book and the movie. One messages will focus on the deity of Christ by asking the question: Is Jesus God?" Another message will focus on the way in which the Bible came into existence by asking the question: Is the Bible trustworthy? Then I'll address the issue of women in the church by asking: What major world religion is the better friend to women? Other issues are addressed in the book but I call the above questions The Big Three. These are the three biggest questions that are raised time and time again in response to The DaVinci Code.
In addition to the three part series, we will have a web site that will address these and the many other questions that are asked after reading the book. McLean Bible Church is putting the site together now in preparation for the series and the movie which opens worldwide May 19. We are also ordering somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 booklets from Campus Crusade that addresses these major issues in print. And there will be more to come!
So, begin now to think of who you can invite to Frontline for what promises to be an exciting and enlightening three weeks! Let your friends and co-workers know that for three Sundays starting April 30th Frontline will be addressing these issues from the stage, giving the biblical perspective on the three topics: Is Jesus God, Is the Bible Trustworthy, and What major World Religion is the Better Friend to Women?
I'll be blogging on this subject more as we get closer to the series.
Until then...
Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
I've tried to be patient...I really have. But, I just can't wait any longer! I have to start blogging about the upcoming movie, "The DaVinci Code: Seek the Truth." Over 40 million copies of the book are currently circulating out there, the movie is sure to be a blockbuster with Tom Hanks as the star and Ron Howard as the director. There are over a dozen books currently being sold and their sole purpose is to refute the claims made in a fiction novel - FICTION! The whole thing boggles my mind.
Let me now bring it a little closer to home. When the book came out several years ago, Ken Baugh, the former Teaching Pastor of Frotnline, did an eight or ten week series refuting claims in the book. The series was by far the most attended series at Frontline up to that point. On the night that Ken taught on whether or not Jesus was married, Frontline had the highest attendance in its history!
So, what can we expect this coming April and May when I do a three week series in response to the DaVinci Code? I believe we will have somewhere around a thousand unchurched people come through the doors over that three week period doing exactly what the sub-title of the movie suggests - "Seek[ing] the Truth." These thousand or more people will be coming with you, and others like you, who are inviting them to Frontline to seek the truth that is found in the Bible. This movie and the questions that it generates in the minds of unbelievers is one of the best evangelistic opportunities that has made itself available to the church in a while.
In light of this, what will go on at Frontline? First, I will be teaching three messages in response to claims made in the book and the movie. One messages will focus on the deity of Christ by asking the question: Is Jesus God?" Another message will focus on the way in which the Bible came into existence by asking the question: Is the Bible trustworthy? Then I'll address the issue of women in the church by asking: What major world religion is the better friend to women? Other issues are addressed in the book but I call the above questions The Big Three. These are the three biggest questions that are raised time and time again in response to The DaVinci Code.
In addition to the three part series, we will have a web site that will address these and the many other questions that are asked after reading the book. McLean Bible Church is putting the site together now in preparation for the series and the movie which opens worldwide May 19. We are also ordering somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 booklets from Campus Crusade that addresses these major issues in print. And there will be more to come!
So, begin now to think of who you can invite to Frontline for what promises to be an exciting and enlightening three weeks! Let your friends and co-workers know that for three Sundays starting April 30th Frontline will be addressing these issues from the stage, giving the biblical perspective on the three topics: Is Jesus God, Is the Bible Trustworthy, and What major World Religion is the Better Friend to Women?
I'll be blogging on this subject more as we get closer to the series.
Until then...
Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Meditating On Scripture
I taught from Joshua 1:8 this past Sunday night and received quite a few emails and myspace messages asking me how to pick a verse each day or a verse each week to meditate on. Before I answer this question, I have to say how encouraged I am at the number of people who requested help in this area!
If you missed the message on Sunday night (March 5), I'd highly recommend going to the Frontline site and listening to it on streaming audio. You can either go to the top of my myspace page and click on "FRONTLINE" or you can click here: http://www.frontline.to/. Click on "Joshua Project 4" under "Recent Series" on the main screen. (If you are reading this after March 2006, just go to the media archives from the main page.)
Frontline doesn't currently have a "verse of the day" that you can subscribe to but I've discovered several sites that can help you to do so. You can subscribe to have a verse each day emailed to you. I'm only showing two of the sites I found. If you want to look at other sites you can google "scripture verse of the day." The sites I found are below:
www.christnotes.org
http://www.votd.org/ (votd stands for "verse of the day")
I don't necessarily advocate any additional information on these sites. I can only recommend the email subscription as a source for Bible verses. Subscribing to one of these sites or a site you find during your own search will help connect you to the Bible every day.
I's also suggest that you read the verse sent each day and save the one that connects with you the most each week. Then meditate on the chosen verse as I described biblical meditation on Sunday and continue your reflection on the chosen verse until another verse connects with you. This process will serve you well in engaging you with the text at a very personal and impacting level.
If you don't already, I hope you decide to pursue this or some form of regular reflection on biblical text. Remember, "All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16)
Carpe Deum! (seize God!)
Todd Phillips
If you missed the message on Sunday night (March 5), I'd highly recommend going to the Frontline site and listening to it on streaming audio. You can either go to the top of my myspace page and click on "FRONTLINE" or you can click here: http://www.frontline.to/. Click on "Joshua Project 4" under "Recent Series" on the main screen. (If you are reading this after March 2006, just go to the media archives from the main page.)
Frontline doesn't currently have a "verse of the day" that you can subscribe to but I've discovered several sites that can help you to do so. You can subscribe to have a verse each day emailed to you. I'm only showing two of the sites I found. If you want to look at other sites you can google "scripture verse of the day." The sites I found are below:
www.christnotes.org
http://www.votd.org/ (votd stands for "verse of the day")
I don't necessarily advocate any additional information on these sites. I can only recommend the email subscription as a source for Bible verses. Subscribing to one of these sites or a site you find during your own search will help connect you to the Bible every day.
I's also suggest that you read the verse sent each day and save the one that connects with you the most each week. Then meditate on the chosen verse as I described biblical meditation on Sunday and continue your reflection on the chosen verse until another verse connects with you. This process will serve you well in engaging you with the text at a very personal and impacting level.
If you don't already, I hope you decide to pursue this or some form of regular reflection on biblical text. Remember, "All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16)
Carpe Deum! (seize God!)
Todd Phillips
Friday, March 03, 2006
Evangelicalism
I think one of the most misunderstood terms in Christian culture today is "Evangelical" (or Evangelicalism). Some of you may be thinking, "If this is the stuff Todd's going to write about, I'm out!" But, stay with me on this one. I think it's worth the read.
Here we go. Evangelicalism does not have the same meaning as evangelism. Evangelism is simply the act of preaching or sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ (the Gospel). So, if a church calls itself evangelistic they are trying to describe themselves as a body of believers that constantly shares the gospel in everything that they say and do both as a community of faith and as individual believers in the world.
Evangelicalism on the other hand is a term that has been used historically to describe churches who believe and follow a core set of beliefs. These core beliefs are:
1. God provided only one way for us to be forgiven and that is through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
2. The Bible is the inspired Word of God Himself and in this way is a totally unique work in all of history.
3. All persons must be converted or "born again" through Christ's saving work on the cross to have a relationship with God and be forgiven of sins.
4. Believers are commanded by God to encourage non-believers to become believers in Christ (Evangelism).
Therefore, churches who adhere to these beliefs (like McLean Bible Church and Frontline) are evangelical churches. Also, as you've probably figured out already, every evangelical church is evangelistic, but not every church that is evangelistic is evangelical. Confused yet?
Now that you've suffered through Christian History class with me I'm going to give you the rest of the story. I'm going to let you in on why this is all so important to you and me. Bottom line - we all need to know what we believe and why we believe it. I don't have the time to tell you why these four core beliefs are so important but I can tell you that if you attend MBC or Frontline or any other church that considers itself an evangelical church then these four beliefs make up the very DNA of your church and should make up your spiritual DNA as well.
As an evangelical believer, we are to live our lives under the authority of the Bible, knowing that God provided one way to Him - Jesus Christ. Knowing and believing Jesus is the only way to salvation should remind us daily of the wonderful, unmerited gift we received when we started our personal relationship with Jesus, and compel us to share Jesus with others who don't yet know Him personally. Our lives are to be defined and directed by these core beliefs. As a believer, do you allow the Truth and instruction in the Bible to drive the decisions you make every day? Do you believe Christ is the only way to a relationship with God? Do you share your belief in Christ with others?
Ask yourself if you subscribe to the four core beliefs of evangelicalism. If you agree with them make sure you know why you do. Paul reminds us to give a defense of the things we believe. Can you defend your beliefs? If you question one or more of the four core beliefs, ask the same question - why? Allow these uncertainties to challenge you to find the answers. Seize this opportunity to define and deepen your faith trusting that God has promised to guide you into all truth!
Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
Here we go. Evangelicalism does not have the same meaning as evangelism. Evangelism is simply the act of preaching or sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ (the Gospel). So, if a church calls itself evangelistic they are trying to describe themselves as a body of believers that constantly shares the gospel in everything that they say and do both as a community of faith and as individual believers in the world.
Evangelicalism on the other hand is a term that has been used historically to describe churches who believe and follow a core set of beliefs. These core beliefs are:
1. God provided only one way for us to be forgiven and that is through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
2. The Bible is the inspired Word of God Himself and in this way is a totally unique work in all of history.
3. All persons must be converted or "born again" through Christ's saving work on the cross to have a relationship with God and be forgiven of sins.
4. Believers are commanded by God to encourage non-believers to become believers in Christ (Evangelism).
Therefore, churches who adhere to these beliefs (like McLean Bible Church and Frontline) are evangelical churches. Also, as you've probably figured out already, every evangelical church is evangelistic, but not every church that is evangelistic is evangelical. Confused yet?
Now that you've suffered through Christian History class with me I'm going to give you the rest of the story. I'm going to let you in on why this is all so important to you and me. Bottom line - we all need to know what we believe and why we believe it. I don't have the time to tell you why these four core beliefs are so important but I can tell you that if you attend MBC or Frontline or any other church that considers itself an evangelical church then these four beliefs make up the very DNA of your church and should make up your spiritual DNA as well.
As an evangelical believer, we are to live our lives under the authority of the Bible, knowing that God provided one way to Him - Jesus Christ. Knowing and believing Jesus is the only way to salvation should remind us daily of the wonderful, unmerited gift we received when we started our personal relationship with Jesus, and compel us to share Jesus with others who don't yet know Him personally. Our lives are to be defined and directed by these core beliefs. As a believer, do you allow the Truth and instruction in the Bible to drive the decisions you make every day? Do you believe Christ is the only way to a relationship with God? Do you share your belief in Christ with others?
Ask yourself if you subscribe to the four core beliefs of evangelicalism. If you agree with them make sure you know why you do. Paul reminds us to give a defense of the things we believe. Can you defend your beliefs? If you question one or more of the four core beliefs, ask the same question - why? Allow these uncertainties to challenge you to find the answers. Seize this opportunity to define and deepen your faith trusting that God has promised to guide you into all truth!
Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Joshua
I've read Joshua 1:1-9 probably over a hundred times and I'm still amazed at the promises God makes to Joshua as Joshua becomes the leader of three million Israelites. Just in case you don't have a bible handy...
"After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them, to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates, all the Hittite country, to the Great Sea on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:1-9)
I taught from this passage a few nights ago at Frontline (http://www.frontline.to/). Even though I'm fresh from teaching on the subject of Joshua being a man of courage, I'm still taken back by God's promises! in a total of sseparateate powerful statements from God Joshua is told in a not shell, "There is no need for you to ever be discouraged or terrified at the things life throws at you. In fact, you can live a life of strength and courage because I, the Lord, with never leave you nor forsake you!" I know that God doesn't give me a spirit of fear, but "a spirit of "power, of love, and of self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7) I know as Paul also reminds the Hebrews (13:5) that God will always be with us and God will never abandon us. But, to read such amazing promises and words of encouragement in just nine short verses is truly inspiring.
My great desire for the past two weeks has been to remind myself of these truths, live in light of them, and teach these truths to others - my wife and three children, Frontliners, and fellow myspacers. Are you living a life today of courage in Christ? Are you reading and pondering the promises of God in the Bible daily to prepare your heart for the battles you face each day? If not, then use the passages in this blog, especially from the book of Joshua, to prepare you each day. Hopefully, you'll find that you're wanting more of god's Word than what you read here. Hopefully God will use this a catalyst for deeper study of His Word. Press on!
Carpe Deumseizeeze God!)
Todd Phillips
"After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them, to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates, all the Hittite country, to the Great Sea on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:1-9)
I taught from this passage a few nights ago at Frontline (http://www.frontline.to/). Even though I'm fresh from teaching on the subject of Joshua being a man of courage, I'm still taken back by God's promises! in a total of sseparateate powerful statements from God Joshua is told in a not shell, "There is no need for you to ever be discouraged or terrified at the things life throws at you. In fact, you can live a life of strength and courage because I, the Lord, with never leave you nor forsake you!" I know that God doesn't give me a spirit of fear, but "a spirit of "power, of love, and of self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7) I know as Paul also reminds the Hebrews (13:5) that God will always be with us and God will never abandon us. But, to read such amazing promises and words of encouragement in just nine short verses is truly inspiring.
My great desire for the past two weeks has been to remind myself of these truths, live in light of them, and teach these truths to others - my wife and three children, Frontliners, and fellow myspacers. Are you living a life today of courage in Christ? Are you reading and pondering the promises of God in the Bible daily to prepare your heart for the battles you face each day? If not, then use the passages in this blog, especially from the book of Joshua, to prepare you each day. Hopefully, you'll find that you're wanting more of god's Word than what you read here. Hopefully God will use this a catalyst for deeper study of His Word. Press on!
Carpe Deumseizeeze God!)
Todd Phillips
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