The New Testament documents, and specifically the four Gospels, have withstood the test of almost 2,000 years of intense scrutiny, criticism, and efforts to discredit them as historical records. And a significant part of this discrediting effort involve questions about their authorship.
In this third lesson in our series we want to spend a little time talking about this issue, and the confidence we can have in their trustworthy nature. Below I have reproduced a short form of Part III – Their Authorship outline. If you want to skip the outline and just listen to the audio of the sermon, you can go directly to the page I have created forThe Jesus Documentshere.
I am a real knock-over for any documentary that combines either archaeology or history with a conservative examination of some part of the Bible. So when a whole series comes along combining BOTH archaeology and history with the Bible, I am all in!
The Drive Thru History team led by Dave Stotts are the ones doing it again. I spoke about their earlier work over a year ago. Now Stotts is the presenter in a new series called, “Ends of the Earth”, which is examining the spread and influence of Christianity from the 1st Century until the present. Five of the planned 20 episodes have already been released on the Trinity Broadcast Network, with a new episode being added weekly.Continue Reading
Those of us who are older perhaps remember being able to purchase the entire King James Version Bible on cassette tapes recorded by Alexander Scourby! Now these many years later cassettes are mostly extinct, and it seems the CD format will soon follow.
Meanwhile, here is a great deal on the entire NIV Bible in audio format on 79 CDs for $11.99 plus shipping! This recording by Zondervan is the dramatized version with numerous different readers and a musical score at times. This is probably clearance pricing at www.ChristianBook.com, so don’t delay if interested. Several samples can be listened to at the link provided to help anyone decide if they would enjoy listening to the Bible in this form. Of course a CD player is necessary. However, a little known fact is that most DVD movie disk players can also play CDs!
The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70 was a major event in the 1st Century for both Judaism and early Christianity. And even though that Jewish War and its massive destruction is not recorded in the New Testament, it was predicted by Jesus – most notably in Matthew chapter 24.
I recently had my good friend Tim Brinley recommend a 24 minute animated documentary about the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. I had read several accounts of these events, but was still enlightened and impressed by this 24 minute video. It is conveniently available on YouTube and is produced by a small studio called Kings and Generals. This studio is primarily two history buffs with good technology and media skills who produce short animated videos about various important battles in world history. I highly recommend their documentary on the Siege of Jerusalem 70 AD!
After taking a break partly caused by our present Covid19 pandemic, we are returning with our Pick of the Week segment again. And this pick is free as well as both fascinating and educational.
Expository teaching is a style of instruction in which an in-depth look at the Biblical text is the core of the lesson. Dr. John Piper is a master at this expository teaching. His website at www.desiringgod.org gives access to many of his expository teaching resources. Recently one of our recommendations during this pandemic was his newly released book, Coronavirus and Christ, which he gives away free in digital format. As I write this, over 1,000,000 copies of it have already been downloaded! I greatly appreciate his Scripture-based approach in this book.Continue Reading
One of the nice things about using the WordPress platform for this website is the statistics I am provided about the most searched for and read articles. Far and away the most popular article on www.effectivebiblestudy.org so far is “Free Bible Images from www.freebibleimages.org.” I know it is because many ministers, teachers and ministries are seeking great artwork for slide presentations and teaching illustrations.
Today we will look at another source for some good photos, illustrations, and paintings. We are referring to Pixabay.com. This is a commercial website connected with Shutterstock, one of the largest commercial online providers of images for sale. However, Pixabay provides images for free, while running commercial advertising as the means to pay their bills and overhead.Continue Reading
I have been a big believer in using graphics and handouts since almost the very beginning of my ministry as supplements to more effective learning for my hearers. Long ago (before the days of PowerPoint, laptops and digital projectors) overhead projectors, handmade paper or cloth charts, chalk and blackboard were the standards for illustrating sermons or lessons. When I first began preaching a copy machine was not even a financially practical thing, so a mimeograph had to do. (For those too young to be familiar with any of these “technologies,” a “Google” search can fill in the details.)
“We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” These words by King Jehoshaphat (reigned 872-848 BC) of Judah were uttered in prayer to God. One of the good kings following Solomon, Jehoshaphat was praised in Scripture for his faithfulness like his ancestor David.
His prayer was uttered as he was preparing to lead his army and nation against a confederation of three mighty armies which had marched against Judah. Read the story in 2 Chronicles 20, including his prayer in verses 6 thru 12.
I’m spending much more time than usual at home as mandated by our state and city governments… and by the president of our school! This means I have more time to look at the many emails and other digital media that come my way daily from the larger Christian community.
I have been on the mailing lists for some time of various ministries, publishers and respected leaders. Though I might have significant differences with some doctrinal views and practices, I respect these men and women for their deep faith and commitment to the fundamentals of the Gospel. That is never more evident than now as the whole Christian community is being powerfully impacted by the current pandemic. Combine this with their thoughts at the approach this Sunday of Easter in much of Western Christianity… and the fact that all public celebrations of it have been cancelled.Continue Reading
In March of 2016 I had the opportunity to travel to Israel and Jordan with a tour group from Lubbock Christian University led by Dr. Jesse Long. Among the many highlights of that tour for me was the opportunity to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Within that building is the “Edicule,” a small building built during the crusades over the remains of what was believed to be the cave tomb of Jesus.
About six months after our visit, the Edicule was closed for major repairs and the National Geographic magazine and cable channel was granted permission to video what was uncovered in the center of that small building. A documentary and magazine article are available from them. But in brief, when the flat marble stone (dating from about AD 1100-1300) supposedly covering the “tomb bed” was removed, another much older stone slab dated to about AD 345 was discovered beneath. Then when that slab was shifted to one side, only the original limestone tomb bed was found beneath! And then within a few hours it was all cleaned and repaired, and hidden once again from human eyes.Continue Reading
I have long held the strong conviction that professed Christians have too little knowledge and understanding of “apologetics” – the study and presentation of the strong evidence and reasons for believing the fundamental facts of the Gospel message. This includes the reliability of the Bible as a historical record and the existence of a real person named Jesus. The facts concerning Jesus would further include His doing of miracles, His teachings, and His death by crucifixion and then resurrection from the dead! Failure by those of us who teach and preach to regularly present this evidence to our people has left many of them weak in faith and more easily misled by the skeptics in our culture and educational systems. Therefore, I often incorporate the “evidence that demands a verdict” in my messages and classes. And there is no better time to do that each year than during the Easter season.Continue Reading
Lifeway, the publishers of the English Standard Bible translation, is currently offering a free PDF download of Psalms in 30 Days: A Prayer Guide Through the Psalter, written by Trevin Wax. I could not find the book on their website, but received the download link in an email from the ChurchResources division of Lifeway.
This is not a commentary nor a devotional study guide to the Psalms. Rather, the author has arranged the various psalms to be read and incorporated into the reader’s daily prayers. The full text of each psalm is reproduced – from the ESB version of course. The book is arranged into three daily prayer times for 30 days. Each prayer time includes not only the psalms chosen for that time, but also one or more brief Scripture quotations from other parts of the Bible in line with that time’s theme, and also a prayer or prayers to be verbalized in addition to the psalms. The total length of the book in print form is 299 pages.Continue Reading
The New Testament documents, and specifically the four Gospels, have withstood the test of almost 2,000 years of intense scrutiny, criticism, and efforts to discredit them as historical records. And a significant part of this discrediting effort involve questions about their authorship.
Those of us who are older perhaps remember being able to purchase the entire King James Version Bible on cassette tapes recorded by Alexander Scourby! Now these many years later cassettes are mostly extinct, and it seems the CD format will soon follow.
Lifeway