Month / May 2017

by In Light Of The Cross

3 Quick Reasons Why it is Logical and Reasonable to Believe the Bible

Al Lopez Park

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

Last Sunday, at a graduation party, I had the pleasure of visiting with one of my former students from the Adventist school where I teach and give Bible studies. She is now attending a public high school in a different city. She told me how sad she is that at least half of her school population is self-proclaimed atheist. She said she is often asked, “How do we know the Bible is true?” She shared she needed some help answering that question, so here is what I shared.

While it takes faith to believe history books as well as the Bible, there are some ways to know if it is valid to put faith in a history book as well as the Bible. Here are some quick examples of why logic and reason warrants my faith in the Bible.First of all we all have to believe in something. Some people believe in evolution only because they read about it in a science book written by humans, and then turn around and say they don’t believe in the Bible because it was written by humans. Where would we be if we did not believe anything that humans wrote? For example, I believe Australian Prime Minister, Harold Holt, disappeared while swimming on December 17, 1967. How do I really know though? After all, I was a toddler on the other side of the world when this happened. I didn’t actually see or hear anything, and there is no body to prove anything either way. I have not even met anyone who ever actually saw Holt in the first place. How do I know his very existence was not made up? I believe it simply because I read about it in a history book. See, I have to put my faith in something.

  1. Here is one we don’t hear about much, but Revelation 9, written some 1,700 years before, gives us the exact day and year of the voluntary surrender of the Ottoman empire. When this prophecy was fulfilled, August 11 1840, many Bible skeptics became believers, when this prophecy was fulfilled.

2. Over 2600 years of earth’s history was accurately foretold by the image in Daniel 2. This includes Napoleon’s and Hitler’s defeats, as the prophecy says there will never be another one world empire. Clifford Goldstein revisited this prophecy affirming our faith is both logical reasonable.

3. Jesus perfectly fulfills all the Old Testament prophecies regarding the birth, baptism, death and resurrection of the Messiah.

Of course there are many more reasons why I believe, but here are three quick examples why it is logical and reasonable for the skeptic to put faith in the Bible. While we have all had emotional experiences with God’s Word, God does not want us to put faith in our sight or emotions. This is why in Luke 24, Jesus showed the men on the road to Emmaus Bible prophecy about Himself, instead of having them go by sight or feeling. what are some logical and reasonable examples of why you put faith in the Bible?

You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here. 

by In Light Of The Cross

Suffering for a Purpose Brings Happiness

 

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I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

I often begin my group Bible studies by having each member share a high and a low for their week. I wonder, if we asked God how His week went, what He would say? We may have seen a child mistreated, but God cried with every child on earth who was mistreated. We may have comforted a friend who just lost a parent. God cried at the bedside of every soul that died that week. We may cheer when our friend accepts salvation. God rejoices with every sold around the world that accepts salvation!
In Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning, he explains how people survived concentration camps in world war 2. Without anything to be happy about, the survivors found a purpose for their lives to make living meaningful. Since then, many psychologists have written about how our lives need more than happiness. We need purpose and meaning. In the concentration camps it could mean encouraging another prisoner to hang on.

In Richard Wurmbrand’s book, Tortured for Christ, he described how those in prison for their faith would “tithe” their soap and bread, by giving them to a weaker brother. Even in prison, their life had meaning and purpose by helping someone else and expressing their love for Jesus in the process.  Instead of just being happy, having meaning and purpose made them thrive even in dire situations.

I was going door to door, asking people to take a survey, to see if they were interested in Bible studies or any other service the church had to offer. A man answered the door cursing me, ordering me off his property. It seemed I could not comply fast enough. I felt I had been treated harshly. While this was not the first time I had been treated rudely, what happened next was unprecedented. As I walked down the street, I could sense the presence of Jesus, telling me, “Thank you for sharing in my suffering. Everyone left me at Gethsemane. Now I don’t feel so alone, knowing you have suffered with me.”  Granted I did not taste even a sip of the harshness Jesus drank. Still, as I prayed as I walked, I realized, while I could not be there to wipe the sweat from His face in Gethsemane, I could share in His sufferings today in my own realm. Somehow knowing I had shared a little sip of what Jesus tasted, made my afternoon meaningful. It brought me closer to Jesus. We shared something together.

Instead of asking God to remove suffering, the key might be to ask God to help us find a purpose for our suffering. Sometimes that purpose may be just as simple and yet meaningful as sharing God’s week with Him, so He doesn’t feel so alone.