Bible Archives

June 6, 2025June 2, 2025

The Church Worshiping Together

These thoughts were inspired by a good friend who said, “I get a lot more out of sitting on a log in the woods and listening to the birds than I do out of sitting in a pew and listening to a preacher.” Yesterday, we looked at some reasons why the Church needs to gather in prayer. Today, we explore some other benefits of the Church worshiping together.

Worship is not a spectator sport! Every command related to music in worship involves the individual participating in a shared activity. (See Romans 15:9; 1 Corinthians 14:15; Ephesians 5:19; and Colossians 3:16.) Jesus prayed for unity among His followers, and singing together is one of the most unifying things we can do. The purpose is not to entertain God or people. By singing together, we unify, encourage, and build up one another.

The Lord’s Supper, also known as communion, serves as a means to encourage and edify one another. It is not just vertical toward God but also horizontal to your fellow Christians. Remembering the sacrifice of Christ and sharing a memorial provides a way to unify, grow, and be encouraged by the Church worshiping together.

Even giving is not for God’s benefit. God is the creator who made and owns everything. He does not need our money. The Bible makes it clear that giving benefits the giver. (See Acts 20:35; 2 Corinthians 9:7; and 1 Corinthians 16:2.) The person who never learns to give loses in every aspect of life. A good marriage, good kids, good sex, good recreation, and good health all depend on being able to give freely and unconditionally.

People giving through their local congregations can accomplish significant things in the world. Atheists and agnostics take delight in pointing out every mistake that Christians make, but atheism does not primarily address hunger, disease, broken families, mental illness, and homelessness. The Church worshiping together not only encourages and builds individuals, but it also coordinates resources and directs them to meet real needs.

A person may find that “sitting alone in the woods” brings them more personal pleasure than “going to church,” but it will not address the world’s problems or allow them to be part of something bigger than they could accomplish on their own. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together …” (Hebrews 10:25) is not an ego trip for God but a call to action for Christians. The fellowship of the Church worshiping together can have a powerful effect on us individually and on the world.

June 5, 2025June 2, 2025

The Church Gathering to Pray

A good friend of mine said, “I get a lot more out of sitting on a log in the woods and listening to the birds than I do out of sitting in a pew and listening to a preacher.” To non-Christians, much of what goes on in a worship service is boring and irrelevant. The problem is that non-Christians, and even many Christians, don’t understand the importance of the Church gathering to pray and worship. Much of this misunderstanding is based on misconceptions about God or a failure to understand what Christianity is about.

The worship service is not something designed to meet a need God has, since God has no needs. He doesn’t need us to pray to Him to let Him know what is happening on Earth! If we understand that “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28), then surely we realize that God is not ignorant of day-to-day events. Jesus said God knows when a sparrow falls to the ground (Matthew 10:29).

Atheists portray God as a jealous egomaniac who uses and exploits people for His own ends. Those who believe God commands prayer for His own needs don’t understand God’s nature. He has no needs or weaknesses. Turning God into a man creates misconceptions that distort the purpose of the Church gathering to pray.

If prayer is not for God’s benefit, then it must clearly be for ours. The beneficial aspects of an active prayer life are widely accepted by anyone who deals with human issues. Learning to look to a higher power is a fundamental part of almost all twelve-step programs for overcoming addictions. The Church gathering to pray together fosters unity and peace.

Jesus condemned those who turned prayer into a public display of their religiosity. In Matthew 6:5, He said, “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.” Everything done in a worship service needs to be understood in the same way. It is not to impress others but to fulfill our need to praise and worship God.

There are other aspects of worshiping together that make it better than “sitting on a log in the woods listening to the birds.” We will deal with those tomorrow.

May 30, 2025May 30, 2025

Only Humans Can Sing

The claim that animals sing just like humans is based on misinformation. Only humans can produce music, a fact supported by both definition and experience. A dictionary definition of music is: “The art of arranging sounds in time that expresses ideas and emotions to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.” The dictionary also gives the following definition of singing: “The use of the human voice to provide a succession of notes to produce a desired effect.” Only humans can sing.

Music has a proven effect on humans. My son Timothy was born with multiple handicaps. He was blind, severely mentally challenged, and had cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and schizophrenia. What Tim did not have was a problem with his hearing. If we put on a record of one of his favorite artists, he would smile and sit quietly through the entire record.

The Bible records the effect of music on humans. King Saul was mentally disturbed. The one thing that gave him peace was David and his harp (1 Samuel 16:14-16). The Old Testament includes many references to the role of music. In Daniel 3:5-15, we read that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, used music to call people to worship his gold image. In Ecclesiastes 2:8, we read that Solomon had singers serving him. In Nehemiah 12:27-28, we see that singers and players celebrated the dedication of the restored Jerusalem wall. The Psalms are songs, and many of them refer to making music.

Music has played a significant role in Christianity. Ephesians 5:19 tells Christians to “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” A psalm is a current expression of needs. A hymn is a song of praise to God. Spiritual songs are songs that instruct or motivate. In recent years, Bill Gaither and others have popularized gospel music.

Can animals do these things? The answer is no. Only humans can sing. Animals make sounds and “songs” for survival purposes. Dogs bark, cats meow, and birds “sing” for survival reasons. Whales in the broad expanse of the ocean contact one another by emitting low frequencies that travel long distances. A cardinal sits outside our window and “sings.” But what is he actually doing? He is saying to all other cardinals, “Stay out of my territory and away from my mate or else.” He is not creating music.

Animal communication is a demonstration of God’s design and wisdom, but only humans can sing as a product of our spiritual nature in God’s image. Humans need to sing and make music. See Colossians 3:16 and Hebrews 2:12. God created us to enjoy the gift of music and use it to honor Him.

April 18, 2025April 18, 2025

Christ Has Indeed Been Raised from the Dead

Only one thing can explain the birth and growth of the Christian faith, and it is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The entire New Testament centers on the resurrection. As the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14 and 20, “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith…But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

Factors that verify the truth of the resurrection story include the testimony of direct eyewitnesses recorded soon after the events, which include embarrassing details. The direct sources were the eyewitnesses, especially Matthew, Mark, and John. They were recorded soon after the events while other eyewitnesses would have been alive to refute the information, but they didn’t. Paul was also an eyewitness, and he wrote within 20 years of the resurrection and recorded an early Christian creed that believers were reciting perhaps as early as a few months after the resurrection. (See 1 Corinthians 15:3-7.)

What about the embarrassing details? They are details that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John included in their gospels that a writer making up the story would surely have left out because they reflect badly on the apostles. They include:

When Jesus was arrested, the disciples deserted in fear.

Matthew 26:31, 56; Mark 14:50-52

Peter denied three times that he knew Jesus.

Matthew 26:69-75; Mark 14:66-72; Luke 22:54-62

The disciples doubted the resurrection reports.

Mark 16:9-14; John 20:24-29

The disciples hid from the Jewish leaders.

John 20:19

Women were the first to testify of the resurrection at a time when the testimony of women was considered less reliable.

Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-11; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-10

Many other evidences support the truth of the resurrection story, but these embarrassing factors are worth considering. As Paul wrote, “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.”

April 16, 2025April 14, 2025

Wealth and Religious Movements

Many times, rich people have an incomplete feeling when being rich is all they have accomplished in life. Rodney Stark, in his book The Triumph of Christianity, gives a picture of wealth and religious movements:

Buddhism – Buddha was a prince, and 55 of his converts were from nobility.

Zoroastrianism – Zoroaster converted a king, queen, and court of a nearby kingdom.

Taoism and Confucianism – Both began among Chinese elites.

Orphism and Pythagoreanism in ancient Greece – According to Plato, they were based on the upper classes.

Even Moses was an Egyptian prince, but he gave up his position. Compare that to Jesus Christ, who was born to very poor parents in a very simple and poor place. He never owned property or a house. As far as we know, He never traveled by a wheeled vehicle or animal until He came to Jerusalem on a donkey near the end of His ministry, not on a horse as the rich would have.

The twelve apostles and other followers of Jesus did not show the same poverty level as Christ. Fishermen could be considered wealthy in Jesus’ day. Peter (Simon) and Andrew were partners of James and John, who owned a boat and left it with their father Zebedee and his hired servants (Mark 1:20). Peter apparently owned two houses, one in Bethsaida and another in Capernaum. Mark’s mother owned a house in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12). Matthew was a wealthy tax collector, and so was Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). Joseph of Arimathea was very rich (Matthew 27:57), and Joanna and Susanna were wealthy women who supported Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3).

What is the connection between wealth and religious movements? Why are wealthy people the founders of various religions except Christianity, where Jesus stands out as an exception? Being rich doesn’t seem to bring the security and satisfaction people desire. In America, many of the wealthiest people have failed marriages and troubled children, with many overdosing or committing suicide. A strong argument for Christianity is the words of Jesus: “Therefore by their fruits you shall know them” (Matthew 7:20).

Reference: Rodney Stark, in his book The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion, page 100

April 15, 2025April 14, 2025

“Not Religious” Young People

In 1990, 8% of people aged 18-29 said they were “not religious.” In 2020, 42% of the same age group claimed their religion as “none.” Dr Ken Woodward retired after 38 years as a religion editor for Newsweek. He has reviewed a new book by Dr. Christian Smith titled Why Religion Went Obsolete. Woodward points out that other identities have superseded the claim that I am Catholic or Jewish or any other religious identification, including “Christian.” It is my experience that even those who attend a church service will not identify to their peers that they are Christians. Now, our population uses new identity titles such as “I’m female,” “I’m Democrat,” “I’m MAGA,” or “I’m LGBTQ.”

One of the great tragedies of “not religious” young people is the enormous collateral damage in terms of morality. In 1955, when you said something, no one would believe you were lying. Today, lying is common at all levels. For the “not religious,” sex has become a drug of choice, especially among those who don’t use chemical substances. The notion that a man and woman would not have sexual relations until they were married is considered archaic. For many, marriage is a financial arrangement open to being dissolved at any time by either party.

Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” The history of ancient Israel given in the Old Testament shows us loud and clear that when people forget God and His teaching, the nation collapses. There is enormous documentation of what brought about the collapse of the Roman empire, and the question for America today is whether we will profit from or repeat the lessons of ancient history.

One bright spot is that books like Christian Smith’s new book, which is subtitled The Demise of Traditional Faith in America, are getting some attention from modern readers. Christian Smith is a scholar, a sociology professor, and the principal investigator for the Global Religion Research Initiative at Notre Dame University.

We would add our small voice to the outcry of real scholars in America, begging our countrymen to wake up before our “not religious” children and grandchildren lose the freedom that made America great.

Reference: “Out of Practice” in Notre Dame Magazine for Spring 2025, pages 19-25.

April 14, 2025April 13, 2025

Holy Week and Tax Time

Many Christians observe this week, April 13-20, 2025, as Holy Week. For Americans, it is also tax time. As we think about the teaching and sacrifice of Jesus, Christian values and paying taxes become an issue. Some suggest that since the government uses our tax money to support immoral activities, they should not pay taxes. It is true that much of our tax money goes to things that oppose the teachings of Jesus Christ. Others seem to believe they can obtain salvation by observing Holy Week. This human tradition is not commanded in the Bible, but paying taxes is, so it is interesting that Holy Week and tax time fall in the same week this year.

The Bible makes it clear that Christians are to pay taxes. Jesus said, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Romans 13 presents civil government as having a good function. In Romans 13:6-7, we read, “It is right for you to pay taxes for civil authorities are God’s official servants faithfully devoting themselves to this very end. Pay them all that is due them. Pay your taxes and import duties gladly – respect where respect is due, and honor where honor is due.”

Realize that these statements were made during the reign of one of the most violent and immoral governments the world has ever known. The Roman government was morally corrupt, sanctioning prostitution and throwing unwanted babies into the street to die. In spite of that, Christians were instructed to pay taxes. We might compare ancient Rome to America today, but that doesn’t change the fact that law and order are because of the civil government.

On the other hand, there is no biblical command to observe Holy Week. Events like “Ash Wednesday” are not commanded in the Bible nor practiced by the apostles and the early Church. The Bible makes it clear that we are not saved by any works or observance of special days. We are saved by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His death-conquering resurrection. We should remember that every day, especially every first day of the week, not just once a year.

Remember during this Holy Week and tax time that we are not saved by keeping special days, paying taxes, or doing anything else. We are saved only by the blood of Jesus Christ, but Jesus made it very clear in Matthew 25:31-46 that His followers would show they are saved by what they do for others. Serving the needs of others is the best way to serve the Lord and win the lost. Christians must remember that our true allegiance is to God and God’s kingdom, and no matter what happens in this life, we have something better ahead.

April 7, 2025April 6, 2025

Life Isn’t Fair

I am sure you have noticed that life isn’t fair. When my daughter was young, she felt it was unfair for her friends to have so much in the way of clothes, cars, money, and food when we had so little. She was especially bitter when I plowed up our front yard so that we could raise enough food to make it through the winter. While her friends went to fancy restaurants, we ate at McDonald’s only on special occasions. We made applesauce with the Lodi apples from a tree we had planted in our yard and sweetened it with saccharine because my wife was diabetic. My daughter would say, “My friends buy applesauce at the grocery store, and we have to make our own. It isn’t fair!”

When my daughter was in high school, she saw her non-Christian friends driving expensive cars to school when she had to ride the school bus. The disparity in wealth has not changed, as the rich continue to get richer, often at the expense of the poor. Jesus Christ said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:13).

My daughter attended a Christian college in Texas, where she had professors who knew her by name and often invited her to their homes. Her friends attended private universities where they sat in classes with several hundred other students and had no personal relationship with their professors. They dealt with graduate students who were required to work with them as part of their stipends. Many of the friends who had money, cars, and fancy houses have had enormous problems with drugs, alcohol, broken marriages, and mental illness. Her friends find it incredible that our marriage lasted 49 years and only ended when my wife died.

In the “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus instructed His disciples not to worry about food, water, or clothing (Matthew 6:25-34) because God would provide for them. He began this discussion by saying, “You cannot serve God and money,” because holding to one means despising the other (Verse 24). Life isn’t fair, but God meets our basic needs. The reward for Christians is the fact that after this life, we will have an existence so wonderful that it will surpass anything on Earth.

Those who reject God have nothing when this life is over. In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus tells the story of the rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. When the rich man dies, he has nothing but suffering, and Lazarus is in Abraham’s bosom. The rich man wants Lazarus to help him, but he is told that life isn’t fair. He had good things in life, while Lazarus had evil things. Now Lazarus is comforted, and the rich man is in pain. The bottom line is that life isn’t fair, but Christians have the ultimate reward in eternity.

April 4, 2025April 2, 2025

The Difference Between Meekness and Weakness

What do you understand “meek” to mean? For many in our culture, being meek means being a nerd or pushover, standing for nothing. The Bible shows the difference between meekness and weakness. The Greek word translated as “meek” is “prajos,” meaning power under control, as in a soothing medicine or a gentle breeze. Nelson’s Bible Dictionary defines “meekness” as “an attitude of humility toward God and gentleness toward man, springing from a recognition that God is in control. It is strength and courage under control coupled with kindness.”

The fact is that modern-day males are too weak to have anything to do with meekness. Most church congregations have a surplus of women and children and too few males. Any weakling can live selfishly, but it takes real strength to feed the hungry, bring water to the thirsty, give clothing to people who don’t have enough, provide medicine to the sick, or visit those in prison.

Galatians 5:22-26 tells us what meekness is about: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The same chapter describes the behavior of the weak in verses 19-21: adultery, fornication (pornography), uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murderers, drunkenness, and reveling.

The biblical record tells us of men who had the strength to do what was right (meekness). They include Abraham, Joseph, Daniel, and Jesus. There are also weak men, including Saul, Lot, Felix, Pilate, Agrippa, and Herod. Being a Christian involves knowing the difference between meekness and weakness. Because many men are weak, women dominate modern Christianity, doing the work of Matthew 25:31-40. Dying congregations and the growth of “Nones” in our society provide evidence of that.

March 28, 2025March 27, 2025

Who Created God?

One of our most frequently asked questions from believers and non-believers is, “If God created the cosmos, who created God?” Atheists claim that God is something humans invented to explain what they didn’t understand. It is true that ancient civilizations invented gods or goddesses to explain phenomena such as volcanoes, ocean storms, weather, lightning, and animal behaviors. The biblical concept is that God created everything we see in the cosmos and around us on planet Earth. Asking “Who created God?” reflects a failure to understand WHAT God is.

If your concept of God is that He is an old man in the sky or some variation of that idea, you will be unable to answer the question of who created God. God is a spiritual being, not a physical one. John 4:24 tells us, “God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” The Bible tells us that God does not experience time as we do. Acts 1:7 says, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own power.”

Genesis 1:1 begins with the Hebrew word “reshith,” translated as “in the beginning.” According to the Hebrew dictionary, the meaning of that word is “absolute beginning point.” The message is that time began when God created it at that point. The verse continues by saying that God created “the heavens and the earth.” God is outside of time, space, and matter/energy. Science can propose theories about the beginning of time down to 10-43 seconds, but it cannot go any further. Quantum mechanics supports the concept of the beginning of time.

The bottom line is that nothing created God. God is outside of time and space and is the creator of all things. Colossians 1:16-17 says it well: “For by Him were all things created whether spiritual or material, seen or unseen – the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities. The whole universe has been created through and for Him, so He existed before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Second Peter 3:8 tells us that “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.” Verse 9 says that God is allowing humans time to respond to His invitation before the cosmos is dissolved (verse 12). Our doesgodexist.org website has some pamphlets, including “A Help In Understanding What God Is” and “Who Created God?” You can find them at THIS LINK. We all need to deepen our understanding of these issues and strive to study and learn together. Join us!

Reference: The New Bible Dictionary Eerdmans Publishing Co. ISBN 0-8028-2282-7