How to Interpret the Bible for All It’s Worth.

Key verse(s)/quote(s):

“He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” - Deuteronomy 8:3

“Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.” - Proverbs 30:5-6

Key takeaway(s):

1. Intimate knowledge of the Bible is of utmost importance
2. It is important to understand how the Bible was written and the context in order to accurately extract the true meaning
3. Identifying your learning style and matching it to different types of Bible study can enhance your success in interfacing with God’s Word

Overview:

I have so often heard people asking the below questions:

• How can I study the Bible on my own?
• How can I go beyond doing quiet time devotionals and do some personal in-depth study of His Word?
• What are the tools that I can use to study the Bible?

And perhaps the most significant question that may seem unrelated is “What is God’s will for my life?”. Although this is a broader issue, that I shall address in a future post, I’d have to state it is intrinsically connected to why someone should be motivated to study from God’s Word.

If someone asks me the question seeking to know God’s will for their life I usually answer with …

Islam and Christianity - Estranged siblings or polarized worldviews?

Key verse(s)/quote(s):

“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” - Jude 1:3

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” - C.S. Lewis

Key takeaway(s):

1. Although some similarities exist (as some Muslims would like us to focus upon) between these two monotheistic faiths - Christianity and Islam are indeed polarized worldviews.
2. Jesus is regarded as highly esteemed

…

Validity of the Bible

Key verse(s)/quote(s):

“What we really need, after all, is not to defend the Bible but to understand it.”  –  Millar Burrows

“If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came  —  and the Scripture cannot be broken”  –  John 10:35

Key takeaway(s):

1. Understanding the Bible in context and being able to gain and communicate its validity is paramount to the Christian faith.
2. One can easily say they “believe” in the Bible or claim the opposite naming it “myth”, each is without veracity as one must understand “what” the Bible says completely and “why” we can have assurance it is actually the Word of God.
3. Basis for trust is rooted in:
   • Third-Party Verification
   • Historical Reliability
   • Fulfilled Prophecy
   • Archaeological Evidence
4. God can produce both a Person and a Book that are without error.

Overview:
This topic is one that sometimes seems bland and often ignored yet ironically in my view it is arguably the most or second most paramount aspect of the Christian dialogue. As Paul states that Christianity itself stands and falls on the resurrection of Christ, it is of utmost importance that prior to generating thoughts and basing our world views on the teaching of a book we must put to rest the discussion on the validity of such a book. More simply put, how can we live by the word of a book if it’s just a book and yet we think and say it is the word of God yet we don’t know it to be so?

Secondarily, how can we respond to the popular …

Today’s Religions: There is no neutral ground.

Key verse(s)/quote(s):

“There is no neutral ground in the universe; every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counter-claimed by Satan” - C.S. Lewis

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”  –  1 John 4:9-10

Key takeaway(s):

1. With such an array of beliefs how can all religions lead to the same point?
2. Objective analysis of a religion is key and sincerity alone has never been and should never be a mark of authenticity
3. All religions & cults seem to do one or more of the following…

• Strip the deity of Christ
• Bring God down to our level
• Lift us up to God’s level
• Focus on self and not God
• Negate God’s existence altogether
• Dismiss our sinful nature

Overview:

This topic requires a holistic evaluation of several fundamental questions. The 4 main areas that serve as a starting point for an introductory discussion on comparative world religions begins with:

1. Why are there so many religions?
2. Don’t all religions point to God?
3. What makes Christianity unique from other religions?
4. What does all this mean to you?

In order to objectively compare religions and understand what worldviews they present, one must read from their own texts. Each of the facts presented in this presentation will be readily attested to by each faith group as they are taken from their …