The Bible

The Bible…

Contains 66 different books

Has an Old Testament with 39 books

Has a New Testament with 27 books

There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible

There are 31,173 verses in the Bible

There are 807,361 words in the Bible

Knowing all these interesting facts may make you a baller in Biblical Trivial Pursuit, but are these facts life-changing? Do you look at the Bible as a history book full of interesting facts to memorize or do you look at the Bible as the perfect, infallible Word of God? How do you respond when you collide with the Bible?

Check out these two very different responses to the Bible:

Centuries ago the Prince of Granada was sentenced for life to solitary confinement in one of Madrid’s ancient prisons. Apparently, the authorities feared he might aspire to the throne. During his imprisonment he was given one book to read – the Bible. Over the next 33 years, the Prince apparently read the Bible hundreds of time and read it with painstaking care. But when he did after 33 years of imprisonment, and the authorities began going through his cell after his burial, what they found was striking. All over the walls of his cell, they found that he had etched in the soft stone notations such as these:

The eighth verse of the 97th Psalm is the middle verse of the Bible; Ezra 7:21 contains all the letters of the alphabet except the letter “J”; the ninth verse of the eighth chapter of Esther is the longest; no word or name of more than six syllables can be found in the Bible.

It is incredible that this man spent more than 33 years carefully studying this one book that has been described even by its critics as one of the most amazing pieces of literature ever written, and all he got from his study was a few isolated pieces of Bible trivia. (from The Ministry of Nurture by Duffy Robbins)

Compare the Prince with the Ethiopian eunuch from Acts 8…

In Acts 8:26-40 an Ethiopian man was traveling home in his chariot reading from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. The man needing help understanding what he was reading asked Philip to explain God’s Word. Through looking at the book of Isaiah, Philip told him the good news about Jesus. Immediately he responded by pulling the chariot over, asked Philip to baptize him right then and there, and gave his life to Jesus. The eunuch’s life was forever changed after encountering the Word of God.

Two stories. Two different encounters with the Bible. Two very different responses.

______________

Which story do you relate more with?
Is the Bible just a history book filled with trivia answers and cool facts to you?

Is the Bible simply decoration on your coffee table or night stand collecting dust while making you look “spiritual”?

Or is the Bible the “sharper than any double-edge sword” Word of God that is your life guide that when you encounter it, it forever changes you?

Love in English vs Greek

I get frustrated with the word “love.” It is too broad.

On one hand I love a Coffee with peppermint from Starbucks. On the other hand I love my family.

I love the Oregon Ducks. I love my amazing parents who brought me into this world and selflessly took care of me for many years.

I love the tv show the Office, the movie dumb and dumber, Spring, Christmas, traveling, writing, and my iPhone. I also love pouring my heart in worship, receiving fresh words from God through Scripture, having deep intimate friendships, having intellectual discussions, and my savior and rescuer – Jesus Christ.

The English language is very limited when it comes to “love.” We use it for everything. We often use the same descriptive word for how we feel about our sports teams, a juicy steak, our pets, and our families. If we were to be honest, there is no way that the love we have for our familes can be compared to the love we have for a juicy steak – they are not even in the same ballpark.

That’s what I love about the Greek language (even though I have forgotten so much of it since I took Greek for a semester in college). In Biblical Greek, there are three words that translate into the English word “love” and all three have very different meanings.

Eros (ἔρως érōs) is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. The Modern Greek word “erotas” means “(romantic) love”. However, eros does not have to be sexual in nature. Eros can be interpreted as a love for someone whom you love more than the philia love of friendship. It can also apply to dating relationships as well as marriage. Although eros is initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself.

Philia (φιλία philía), which means friendship love in Greek, a dispassionate virtuous love. It includes loyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue, equality and familiarity. In ancient texts, philia denoted a general type of love, used for love between family, between friends, a desire or enjoyment of an activity, as well as between lovers. This is the only other word for “love” used in the ancient text of the New Testament besides agape, but even then it is used substantially less frequently.

Agapē (ἀγάπη agápē) means a divine, godly love. The verb appears in the New Testament describing, amongst other things, the relationship between Jesus and his disciples. In biblical literature, its meaning and usage is illustrated by self-sacrificing, giving love to all – both friend and enemy. It is used in Matthew 22:39, “Love your neighbour as yourself,” and in John 15:12, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you,” and in 1 John 4:8, “God is love.” This love is selfless, it is willing to sacrifice, it is unconditional, and it is the love that God has for you.

It’s true, sometimes I get frustrated the limits and lack of creativity for the English word “love.” I think it would be incredible to have 3-5 words that fully breakdown and define all the different ways we use the word “love”, much like in Greek. (Anybody want to make up some words and try to make them stick?)

I rest in the fact that I am unconditionally loved (agape) by the Creator of the universe. He loves me enough to think that I am worth saving and worth redeeming. While I am frustrated with the English word “love”, I can’t get enough of God’s never-ending love for me.

He loves you too. Maybe you need reminding of that today.

shhhhhhhhhhhh

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.” - Acts 17:24 (NIV)

Turns out God doesn’t live at the church after all. By the very logic of His immensity. He refuses to be contained by any temple or structure.

What a shame. I guess we have to say good-bye to the admonition we often give kids who get too rowdy at church – “SHHHhhhhhh! You’re in God’s house.” Do we really believe that, or is it just a clever threat, a last resort after we’ve long since counted to three and still can’t get the kids to settle down?

It does make for a nice image, though. Can you see Him at the door after the service, greeting everyone? “Thanks for coming, appreciate you coming, thanks for being here, glad you made it, hope you enjoyed it. Was everything okay? God bless. Oh yeah, I’m God – so, just…bless! Come back to see Me! Have a nice week!”

Is that God? Watching all the cars drive away, turning the church lights off, settling in for a long and quiet week, maybe playing a little on the organ, only to fling wide the doors again in seven days. “Hey! Glad you’re back. Good to see you. Come on in!”

I don’t think so. God doesn’t have a church fetish. He probably cares less about the carpet color there than we think. Why? Because He’s huge. Creator, Initiator of all things. Way too vast to be stuck in some building all week. Far too interested in our lives to simply watch us drive away from Him. Much more worthy of our time than just one hour of just one day.

25 fearless NFL predictions

1. Brett Favre will stay retired!
2. Pittsburgh wins the north
3. Pats win the east
4. Texans finally win the south
5. chargers win the west
6. eagles win the east
7. packers win the north
8. saints win the south
9. cardinals win the west
10. afc wild card teams- colts and baltimore
11. nfc wild card teams- atlanta and tampa bay
12. worst record: carolina panthers 2-14
13. best record: Pittsburgh Steelers 13-3
14. defensive rookie of the year- Von Miller
15. Offensive rookie of the year- Blaine Gabbert
16. offensive MVP- Peyton Manning
17. Defensive MVP- Troy Polamalu
18. alex smith will only start 9 games for the 49ers before being pulled for bad play
19. Hines ward lays a crushing hit on ray lewis ending his season in week 9
20. Matt Ryan lead the league in passing
21. the three california teams have a combined 18 wins: 10 by san diego, 3 by SF and 5 by oak
22. 3 coaches will be fired this season
23. Andrew Luck will be the second pick in the NFL draft.
24. I will win my fantasy football league
25. superbowl- Pittsburgh vs Atlanta 31-24

freedom!

There are certain things in life that don’t mix. Oil & Water, Shaq & Kobe, Good hair day & Rain, Gasoline & Fire, Mac and PC, etc. The list can go on and on.

Another example that most people think do not go together is God & Freedom. In John 8:32 Jesus says, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” But wait a second. God cannot possibly be talking about freedom, can he? Because he is all about rules and regulations, right?

I don’t know about you, but I grew up thinking that God loved rules. I would go to church and hear about the Bible simply to hear a bunch of do’s and don’ts. After a while, I assumed that he got a kick out of saying “no”.

But think about Adam and Eve in Genesis 2. Adam and Eve were the freest people in the history of the planet. Why? Because they lived in a “one-rule” world and were only given one “Do not…” God said they could do whatever they wanted except eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They took care of the garden, named animals, multiply, but just don’t touch that tree.

In God’s ideal world – a world that was just the way he wanted it – he only instituted one rule. Adam & Eve were happy in God’s one-rule world until Satan came along and convinced them that they were not absolutely free. Ultimately, in an attempt to reach for absolute freedom, they chose to disobey and rebel against God’s authority. The idea of their decision was that REBELLION brings FREEDOM. What they soon realized was that they LOST their freedom because of their rebellion.

Something happens to us when we become teenagers and it bleeds into adulthood. Somewhere along life’s journey, we begin to believe that freedom is a world without authority. A world without somebody over us. A world without somebody telling us what to do. That is a lie straight from Satan’s lips that will actually rob you of your freedom.

Have you ever known a rebellious teenager? All of sudden, the boundaries and authority that Mom and Dad set up no longer fly. The teenager starts to believe he/she wants freedom. Their desire for freedom causes them to rebel against Mom and Dad’s authority. Does the choice to rebel result in freedom? No, the exact opposite is true. The rebellion leads towards less freedom, not more freedom. A teenager’s most freedom can be found under his/her parent’s authority.

In the same way, God beautifully sets up boundaries and the way life was intended to be lived not to give us a bunch of do’s and don’ts but to help us experience freedom. When we rebel, it leads towards less freedom, not more freedom. When we submit to his authority, we experience freedom.

Maximum freedom is only found under God’s authority.

Say this with me today...I AM SECOND!

my top ten reasons youth ministry is a priority.

1. Hormones + Energy Drinks + Jesus = the rapid spread of the gospel!
2. Teenagers can take the gospel further than adults (100+ online and face-to-face friends each!)
3. Youth leaders tends to be underestimated and underfunded, perfect candidates to be used by God.
4. Teens can spread the gospel faster than adults (they have already built relational bridges with the lost!)
5. Text messaging makes teen fingers nimble for finding verses in their Bibles quickly as they evangelize.
6. Jesus did (there is strong Scriptural evidence that most of the disciples were teenagers!)
7. There are 67,342 mini-mission fields in America that we call middle schools and high schools.
8. Youth leaders are unrealistic dreamers who want to make a difference and can if we let them!
9. Teens are not the church of tomorrow but are the potential church transformers of today.
10. God has used teens to win victories (David), save nations (Esther) and can use them to spark revivals!