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I love any sort of prompt or beautiful resource that sets a stage for the seasons.  I think it helps me embrace time and holidays with purpose. Amy Gannett of Tiny Theologians has beautiful cards to help those of us with younger kids prepare for Easter. 

She has her line of ABC’s of Easter cards that have a Scripture and a small definition on the back of the card.  It can be an additional way of telling the Resurrection story at the breakfast table or during reading time.  They can be kept in a basket or bowl so it’s easy to grab and read through.

Another fun resource she has available is her Road to Redemption coloring sheet. Cards give a daily Scripture reference and a timeline of key events in Easter week. Kids can follow along and color the huge 6ft by 3ft  sheet that corresponds with the events being read.

I hope you find small ways to fill the Redemption season with joy and beauty.  We have so much to celebrate!

Since last year, I have been working with the East Mountain Food Pantry - an organization that provides for the needs of up to 650 families in the East Mountains. In reflecting upon the work there and how I integrate my faith with the work of the pantry, I have been convicted in understanding the mission of mercy and what it means to the Christian believer. Luke 10:25-27 describes the radical parable of the Good Samaritan.

It's a familiar story to all of us yet how many of us actually take it to heart and fully grasp the meaning of it? Samaritans were the bitterest of enemies with the Jews. Yet, there along the Jericho road, it was a Samaritan who sacrificed personal safety, to show great deeds of mercy towards a bitter enemy and someone of a different race. Christ points to the parable of the Good Samaritan in answering the question, What must I do to inherit eternal life? 

Tim Keller summarizes the parable in his book, Ministries of Mercy - Along the Jericho Road. He states that in this parable, the Lord directly attacks the complacency of comfortably religious people who protect themselves from the needs of others. After all, it was the priest and the Levite who passed by the injured Jewish person. 

Christ calls us to love God and love our neighbor. The parable of the Good Samaritan clearly defines our neighbor as anyone at all--acquaintance, friend, next door neighbor, stranger or enemy. Scripture does provide us with some sense of priority in this matter with our first obligation being to family. However, it is clear from the parable of the Good Samaritan that we are to show mercy to all. Each of us individually can only do so much (after all, millions across the globe are suffering from hunger) and if you are like me, it's easy to become overwhelmed.

However, together as believers we have great power through the Holy Spirit to make a difference in the mission of mercy. We are all along the Jericho road surrounded by those in need whether in our backyard or across the globe. While we are saved only by God's grace,  in the name of Christ, we can all serve and glorify his name through our works of mercy.

Transmission - Do we still have the Bible?

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a sound?

You’ve heard that one, no doubt.  But here’s another question like it, that’s even more important.

What if God spoke, but there was no one around to hear it?  Or, what if He spoke, but that was so long ago and today no one can hear what He said?

If you’re a believer, you would answer, “That’s why we have the Bible.”

And therein is our question.

            How do I know that the Bible I hold today, is a faithful representation of what God spoke thousands of years ago?

Today, we do not possess even a single original scroll of any of the writings of Scripture.  Not even a scrap. 

Should we despair?

No, not at all.  Remember that the writings, as they were originally received, were seen as being from God.  And so, they were cared for and guarded; they were copied and they were distributed. 

So today, we have thousands and thousands of very, very, very close copies.  And we can compare this body of manuscripts (copies) against those of any other ancient writing, to see how confident we should be about its preservation.  If we do that, we will find that the manuscript evidence for Scripture is many times more voluminous, and many times closer in time to the original writing, than any other document from antiquity.  We can be very confident that the original words of Scripture have been preserved with profound accuracy.

Books are written on this topic, but here is an excellent short resource.  This article does a solid job in a very brief space.  It has some of the relevant data points, and a couple of graphics that are very helpful.  Skip over the first few lines, though - which were an ad for a separate book that was released a few years ago.

Our church also did a message some time back that gives more information on this topic.  Click here to listen to “From God to Us - Part II”, from February of 2012.

Finally, if you would like an easily-accessible deep-dive into this fascinating topic, there is a great seminar coming soon to the Abq area.  Check out https://www.signupforms.com/registrations/31631

May the Lord continue to enrich your love for His Word, and deepen your confidence in His faithfulness.

In Christ our great Savior,

Frank

How do we know if the Bible that we read is composed of the right books?  When it comes to the New Testament, how did the church know which of these were from God, and which were just other writings floating around by the 2nd and 3rd centuries? Canon, is the collection of books that we regard as the inspired Word of God. 

There were several criteria that were used to help make this determination of making a book 'canonized'.  Of course, the church prayed, and sought the Lord’s help in this process.  But they didn’t merely rely on their subjective, Spirit-led understanding alone.  Below is an example of four objective criteria, which helped them to determine what God’s authority had spoken, versus what was merely ‘a nice letter’, or maybe even a false one.

• Apostolicity - To be included in what we now call the New Testament, the letter had to either be written by an apostle, or have come through the authority of an apostle.  Why was this necessary?  Well, because the Lord Jesus personally chose His apostles, gave them authority, and commissioned them to teach in His name (Mk. 3:13-19, Mt. 10:1-8).

• Universality - That means the writing enjoyed early, widespread, and continual acceptance by the church, from the time of the first believers.

• Veracity - This meant that the writing was consistent with the truth and the revelation of both the Old Testament, and also with the other apostolic writings. 

• Antiquity - Finally, the writing had to pass the test of antiquity.  This criteria ensured that the writing was in circulation during the lifetimes of the apostles.  It helped to ensure that the teaching was known by the apostles and overlapped with those who witnessed and first believed in Christ.

Because of its importance, entire books are written about this topic! If you would like a little more explanation and encouragement on this, you can click here to check out the message from February of 2012, “From God to Us - Part II”.

Also, if you would like an easily-accessible deep-dive into this fascinating topic, there is a great seminar coming soon to Albuquerque at Desert Springs Church.  Check out https://www.signupforms.com/registrations/31631 for more information.

May the Lord continue to enrich your love for His Word, and deepen your confidence in His revelation.

In Christ our great Savior,

Frank

Kevin DeYoung has some great insight on how we can define "Love"  

"No one can hate you as much as they hated Christ.

No one will ever be mistreated as unfairly as was our Lord.

He was stricken, smitten and afflicted. He was despised and rejected by men—his own creatures. He was a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering, like one from whom me hide their faces. He was despised and we esteemed him not. When reviled, Jesus did not revile in return. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. When he rode in on that donkey on Palm Sunday, he did so knowing that he would bear the punishment to bring us peace and that by his wounds we would be healed.

In other words, he showed his great love for us in this: that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

So we will not know what love is like unless we know Jesus.

The world will not know what love is truly like until it sees it in Christ. Everything else is a pale imitation, maybe even a deceptive imitation. Christ is our substitute and our example. And with Christ as our example, our command is this: we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. This is why love is so much more difficult than the bumper stickers make it out to be. It requires so much more than a general sentiment of good will. It is so much deeper and better than unconditional affirmation.

What does unconditional affirmation require of you by way of sacrifice? Nothing. All it requires is a wave of the hand–“Whatever you do, I’m fine. However you live, that’s fine.” The problem with unconditional affirmation is not that it is too lavishly loving, but that it is not nearly loving enough. When God tells us to love our brothers he means more than saying, “I’m okay. You’re okay. Whatever you do is fine and I don’t judge.” To really love your brother is to lay down your life for him. It requires you to die to yourself, which may mean a sacrifice of your time, a sacrifice of your reputation, and a sacrifice of your comfort. Unconditional affirmation only asks that you sacrifice your principles.

Love is harder than we think. Of course we love our kids and grandkids and those who treat us well. We love nice people. But Jesus says even the pagans do this. That’s not hard. People love people who love them. But will we keep on loving when it means bearing burdens we would rather not be bothered with? Will we love when the people we love do not love us in return? Will we lay down our lives for those who are unlovely, undeserving, ungrateful?

Isn’t that what Christ did for us? When we were unlovely and undeserving and ungrateful, Christ died for us. He loved us not because we were holy, but so that we might be holy. His love was self-sacrificing, sin-atoning, and life-transforming.

He loves us with a love that the world does not understand. And it is so much better than unconditional affirmation."

DeYoung, Kevin

"What is Love?"

The Gospel Coalition

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/what-is-love/

October 20th, 2015