It’s always tough to know who or what came first in the Old Testament. Wouldn’t it be nice if the books were listed in chronological order. A couple of years back, I took several timelines of the Old Testament & combined them.
If you are interested in a copy of this, just email me brad@greenhillschurch.org.
Do you blindly believe the Bible is true? Many people simply believe the Bible is true because a pastor or parent told them so. But it’s only a matter of time before some academic setting will test that belief. Unfortunately many people are ill-equipped in knowing the great wealth of manuscript, archeological, and historical evidence behind the pages of the Bible. Instead they put their faith in a person and then begin to doubt as the foundational writing of their faith is challenged. We should not and must not live life blindly. God has left an amazing witness of His work and plan for us in this world. Here’s a few notes i’m sharing that i put together for a discipleship group i lead on Friday mornings. I hope you enjoy. For further info on this topic, check out the resources posted at the end of the blog!
EVIDENCE THAT THE BIBLE IS ACCURATE & SHOULD BE TAKEN LITERALLY
Most people prove that the Bible is real in the same way they prove that the sun is real. “It warms me and I can see its light – in the same way, the Bible warms our hearts and lights our souls!” This sounds wonderful until we meet someone who claims the same warmth & light from the Koran or the Book of Mormon. What do you do when you look at their life and realize they have great morals and are equally if not more passionate about their Holy Book than you? Is there other evidence than feeling & emotion that Christians can stand on when it comes to the reliability & trustworthiness of the Bible? Absolutely!! While this evidence may not be the single straw that convinces someone to follow Christ. This question and ignorance of historical evidence and knowledge can certainly hold many unbelievers back from trusting in Christ & cause many faithful believers to doubt unnecessarily because they are unaware of the rich heritage of MANUSCRIPT, ARCHAEOLOGICAL, & HISTORICAL evidence.
JUDGING THE PROBABLITY OF THE NEW TESTATMENT GOSPELS
1. Whenever you talk about history you can’t prove or disprove what has happened in the past. It’s not about proving or disproving. It’s a matter of presenting evidence and the jury then looks at the evidence & makes a decision.
2. Whenever you judge evidence, it’s not what is a possible explanation but what is a probable explanation.
(notes taken from the following resources):
(I’VE REALLY ENJOYED THIS RESOURCE! GREAT SUMMARY OF LOTS OF INFO.)
Check out some recent content that I shared with 3 men I disciple on Friday mornings. For most of us we get so busy “doing” in life, we rarely take time to make sure we are heading in the right direction! Are you addicted to the urgent emails, issues, and problems that you face on a daily basis? Or, do you make sure that every day is filled with activities that keep you pointed toward God’s direction & purpose for your life? It’s not so much about the clock (doing more with the time we have) as it is about the compass (making sure what we are doing is purposeful & leads us toward due North)!
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Stephen Covey – First Things First
For all of us there are times in our lives when something that we really wanted to make happen just doesn’t get done. We had the best of intentions and had passionate desires to make something happen. But somewhere along the way between dreaming and execution our plans fall apart.
What is the one activity that you know if you did superbly well and consistently would have significant positive results in your professional or work life?
If you know these things would make such a significant difference, why are you not doing them now?
As you consider your response, I want to point out two primary factors that drive our choices concerning how we use our time:
• Urgency
• Importance
Although we deal with both factors, one of them is the basic paradigm through which we view our time and our lives.
THE URGENCY INDEX (bottom of this post)
• 0-25 Low urgency mind-set
• 26-45 Strong urgency mind-set
• 46+ Urgency addiction
“If most of your responses are on the low end, the urgency paradigm is probably not a significant factor in your life. If they’re in the middle or toward the higher end, there’s a good chance urgency is your fundamental operational paradigm. If your responses are consistently high, urgency may be more than just the way you see. It may actually be an addiction.” Pg. 33
• This is very important to hear – both categories are hugely important; life stops working if we decide to only deal with one factor
For too many of us busyness is where we get our security. It’s validating, popular, and pleasing. It’s also a good excuse for not dealing with the first things in our lives.
• I’d love to spend quality time with you, but I have to work. There’s this deadline. It’s urgent. Of course you understand.
• I just don’t have time to exercise. I know it’s important, but there are so many pressing things right now. Maybe when things slow down a little.
The tools and approaches of time management often feed the urgency addiction. They keep us focused on daily prioritization of the urgent. Even if we were given 15 to 20 more hours a week, the majority of people would feel no more successful or satisfied. Instead they would have more projects left undone, more tension, & added frustration.
• Quadrant I – represent things that are both “urgent” and “important”. Here’s where we handle an irate client, meet a deadline, repair a broken machine, undergo heart surgery, or help a crying child who has been hurt. We need to spend time in Quadrant I. This is where we manage, where we produce, where we bring our experience and judgment to bear in responding to many needs and challenges. If we ignore it, we become buried alive.
• But we also need to realize that many important activities become urgent through procrastination, or because we don’t do enough prevention and planning. Quadrant II includes activities that are “important” but not “urgent”. This is the Quadrant of Quality. Here’s where we do our long-range planning, anticipate and prevent problems, empower others, broaden our minds and increase our skills through reading and continuous professional development, envision how we’re going to help a struggling son or daughter, prepare for important meetings and presentations, or invest in relationships through deep, honest listening. Increasing time spent in this quadrant increases our ability to do. Ignoring this quadrant feeds and enlarges Quadrant I, creating stress, burnout, and deeper crises for the person consumed by it. On the other hand, investing in this quadrant shrinks Quadrant I. Planning, preparation, and prevention keep many things from becoming urgent. Quadrant II does not act on us; we must act on it. This is the Quadrant of personal leadership.
• IF you were to pause and think seriously about the “first things” in your life—the three or four things that matter most—what would they be? Are these things receiving the care, emphasis, and time you really want to give them?
• Why is it that so often our first things aren’t first? For years we’ve been given methods, techniques, tools, and information on how to manage and control our time. We’ve been told that if we keep working harder, learn to do things better & faster, use some new device or tool, or file or organize in a particular way, then we’ll be able to do it all. (so we get an iPhone)
• More than offering you another clock, this approach provides you with a “compass”—because more important than how fast you’re going, is where you’re headed.
• Most people feel like they are really, really busy doing nothing!
• The enemy of the best is the good.
We showed Sarah’s story this last Sunday at Green Hills Church. I met Sarah over a year ago and had the chance to sit down & hear her story. She experienced a lot of tough times growing up but it was amazing to hear of God’s faithfulness in her life. She has been coming to Green Hills since we started the church. So glad she is a part of our community! (getting baptized may 3, 2009)
Great Sunday at church yesterday – check out the podcast to hear Mike’s message on “struggle” in the Metamorphosis series: http://www.greenhillschurch.org/media.html
Easter was a great Sunday! Below I’ve posted a couple of stories from our community. Charity & Dawn will be baptized next month. Their stories remind me of the amazing work of forgiveness that Christ offers us.
A cool story from Sunday – Esther showed up at Green Hills Church. As I talked to her before the service, she explained that she was a full time Nanny in Green Hills. She asked her boss if she could have the morning off to go to “the cathedral.” He happily obliged and offered her a ride. Instead she refused the ride & insisted that God would direct her. Her boss snickered to which she responded, “don’t laugh, He really does give us direction when we ask.”
Esther bumped into a lady on the bus that was coming to Green Hills Church. Although not your typical “cathedral” (we meet in a bar!) she followed her to church. Esther worshiped along with us & raised her hand at the end of the service indicating she was trusting Christ as her Lord & Savior. Something tells me she may have already had a relationship with God. Anyhow, only God knows, but it was a refreshing story.
I hope that God will send us many more people like Esther. People who believe that God will direct when we lean into Him through faith & take the time to look for his direction!
Enjoy these videos – more stories to come!
Ever wondered how to find Jesus in the middle of confusion? Ever felt like you are so far away it’s tough to know where to begin in turning back to God? Ever had times of confusion, doubt & difficulty? Sometimes life just feels unsuccessful! Even the Christian life can be a struggle filled with disappointments, tough times, and slow progress.
Peter struggled as he watched a crowd of over 5,000 walk away from Jesus. But in the middle of uncertainty he continued to believe & to follow hard after Christ. His words offer great comfort to those who are believing in the middle of pain, disappointment and uncertainty. They draw our hearts to the fact that life in Christ never fully makes sense this side of heaven. But then again faith is best expressed in the middle of uncertainty & questions!
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. -John 6:68
Sense of mystery in Peter’s words! Sense of helplessness! Sense of not having it all figured out! All he can rely upon is the evidence of the past that has caused an unusual burning in his heart that nothing else brings!
TRUST in God; continuing to follow Jesus, comes, not through trying to work harder. To better ourselves and to become holier. That’s called leagalism…the default mode of our hearts.
Instead, trust in Jesus is actually built through continuing to surrender day after day to the uncertainty, disappointment, and ugly sinful desires that continue to rear their heads in our lives.
Not pretending that they aren’t there. Not, vowing to do better or punishing ourselves because we failed. But by acknowledging that we do fail, and that the acknowledgement of the failure is actually the ray of light & hope that is streaming into our hearts to awaken a dark and putrid organ, weak from trying to overcome sin alone. Worn out from years of trying to hold it together.
As we lean into Jesus depending upon his strength, not our own. We wind up saving our lives. Through depending on His strength instead of our own. Through actually NOT figuring it out, and acknowledging & accepting our failures & sins we continue down the journey of the saved soul.
The soul that is being renewed in light of the love and acceptance that we find in Christ. Through his grace & mercy we overflow with incredible, giggly joy & overwhelming forgiveness that enables us to breathe in the fresh air of eternal life. To begin to live a different sort of experience in this world.
Our lives become little by little characterized by the DNA of Jesus. As we follow, fail, acknowledge, fail again & allow Him to pick us up. We begin to learn to walk. Not b/c we have grown stronger but because the acknowledging of our weakness in being unable to do it on our own, has given us a new source of life to draw from.
Now we don’t struggle with guilt, anxiety, and darkness nearly as often. Instead we look to the light and we walk growing confident that in time, as we trust the one who is illuminating the path, we will learn a new sort of travel – not a walk, not a run but more of a wonderous skip in the dark that resembles foolishness & the height of joy & faith all at once (otherwise known as walking in the Spirit).
i’m usually behind the times on technology, so this may be old news. but recently a friend (mike) introduced me to a really awesome online music player. www.pandora.com
so here’s how it works. you create a station by selecting an artist you enjoy. then the station pulls in other artists in similar genres, styles, etc.
you can then give each artist a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” creating playlists that stay with your profile. i’ve really enjoyed getting introduced to some new bands and hearing a ton of free music in the background while working, etc.
check it out and let me know what you think. if you are a music hog like me…you’ll love it!
Sometimes it’s easy to pretend that certain verses aren’t really in the Bible. Just this morning I came across a verse in 1 John 2:15, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” That’s a really tough verse to live by…but an important one! I’m beginning to remember the importance of memorizing scripture. I did it a lot when I was young, but somehow as an adult I’ve gotten too busy so it seems.
Over the last few months I’ve started leading my kids to memorize scripture. We typically run through a couple of verses before they go to bed. Sometimes I quote them while I help them brush their teeth or occasionally while they are laying in bed getting ready to turn the lights out. We’ve even worked on them on the way to school in the mornings.
A few weeks ago I printed some verses out and hung them in Riley & Cole’s room. They are there on the wall by their Star Wars Posters. I’ve been encouraged as they’ve actually asked if they can work on a Bible verse several nights before going to bed. Just this last week Cole was quoting John 3:16 and half way through the verse said, “I believe…so that means I have eternal life.” Cole is only 5! I’m amazed at the power God’s word has to change our hearts & lives!
This year I’m going to try to memorize more scripture again. I’ve made some “old school” memory verse cards that I carry around with me and review in the car from time to time.
I realize that memorizing God’s word doesn’t equal a changed heart. David said in Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Memorizing is only the first step. To truly “hide God’s word in my heart,” I must meditate on it and actually apply it to life. That happens through the Holy Spirit bringing the word of God to my mind in specific occasions when God is calling me to change and to live according to His way of life.
I’m excited to see how God will direct my heart and life this next year as I make an effort to meditate & apply his word to my daily life!
So right before Christmas I had two random phone calls from different friends. In a single weekend my garage went from empty to full. I am now the proud owner of a full size air hockey table (96 inches long) and a super nice ping pong table. Fortunately the ping pong table folds so we can still get one car in the garage.
Needless to say we are spending a lot more time in the garage these days. The staff guys from church were over late this afternoon breaking the ping pong table in. Nothing like a little ping pong to end a long Monday coming off a busy Sunday at church!
Hopefully these games along with some board games the boys received at Christmas will translate into a little less TV and a little more family interaction. By the way, I still highly recommend “trouble” & “connect 4,” two great games we’ve been playing this last week.
Reading Prince Caspian is still going well! We have finished about half of the book. We are also working on memorizing Bible verses. More on that later this week in another post.
I hope we are able to spend a little more time together as a family this year and a little less time in front of the TV. Now don’t get me wrong, we aren’t ready to give up Spider Man on Saturday morning or anything. But we are trying to see the TV as a special treat, not as much a normal part of our diet. Hope you have a GREAT year! Anyone reading, I’d love to hear any goals you’ve set for yourself this new year???
Life seems to fly these days! Sometimes it can be really difficult for Katie & me to spend quality time with our boys. Too often the television is on, a cell phone is ringing, or email is calling.
We’ve started a new practice at the Dunlap house. From now until Christmas we are going to take available nights (probably 4 or 5 times a week) to read together. Riley & Cole are 7 & 5 so they loved “The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe” when it came out. We’ve started reading a chapter of “Prince Caspian” together as a family.
I like this because it engages their imaginations. Television seems to create crankiness and disrespectful attitudes the longer kids watch it. How many times have you heard kids turn off the TV after watching for a couple of hours straight and utter the inevitable phrase…”I’m bored!”
Reading together causes them to sit quietly, listen, and engage creatively and imaginatively with the story. When Cole came down this morning for breakfast he walked over to the “Prince Caspian” book we had sitting out on the end table and said, “I can’t wait until we get into the main part of the story!” He opened it up and started looking for pictures to see what will happen next. They’ve already asked if we can read again tonight.
I’m looking forward to reading between now and Christmas. I think we are going to pause on reading Bible stories at night and concentrate a little more on scripture memory. But more on that in a later post…
Remember, discipleship isn’t about having the perfect plan. However, discipleship does involve having a plan and working it. What are some things you’ve done or are currently doing in your family to disciple your kids?
