Saturday Song: The Beach Boys, "Till I Die"

The harmonies and instrumentation on this Beach Boys song are beautiful but the message is sad. Are we really just corks on the ocean? Are we merely rocks in a landslide? Are we really just fallen leaves in the wind? According to Holy Scripture, we're so much more.

Listen to this song here.

From the start, we see that this world was made for us. Genesis 1:31 (KJV) says, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."

And as the Lord pointed out many times in the scriptures, he loved Israel. Deuteronomy 7:8 (KJV) reads, "But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt."

The Father also gave us a choice to love him or to turn away. Look at what Paul wrote in Romans 6:22 (KJV). "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

Luke also showed us in Acts 1:3 (KJV) how Christ assured his disciples of the certainty of his resurrection. "To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:"

What abundant assurances we have that we follow no mere religious figure but the Son of God Almighty. And because he lives, we truly can face tomorrow like the hymn says.

On Monday, I'll post about the fact that certain writings about the life of Christ were frauds. Sad as it sounds, some scholars would rather believe lies than the unexceptional truth about our Lord's childhood.

The Error of Mindless Belief

Many church leaders and parents have made the huge mistake of saying we have to believe God without any sort of proof. Either they were too lazy to explain what we believe and why we believe it or they felt their authority being threatened. Either way, it has caused many seekers to reject Christianity as being irrational. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Empirical science shows that this world couldn't have happened by chance. Order NEVER comes from chaos, as evolutionists claim. Neither has the universe always existed but it had a beginning and maker.

But sinful humanity continues to reject these facts. As we see in Israel's case, they wanted gods which they could hold and use. Isaiah 45:9 (KJV) says, "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?"

Paul also showed this habit of humanity to suppress awkward truths in Romans 1:20 (KJV). "For the invisible things of him (God) from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead;"

History also proves the Bible to be correct. Liberal scholars have doubted the existence of ancient peoples until their ruins were dug up. For example, ancient Jericho was unearthed destroyed just as the Bible described it. Joshua 6:20 (KJV) reports, "So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city."

Christ's resurrection also proves the Bible's accuracy. It would have been easy for the Pharisees to show Christ's body to those who believed he arose had they found it still in the tomb. But Acts 1:3 (KJV) shows that he really did rise from the dead. "To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:"

Not only that but Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:6 KJV), "After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep."

I'll be writing more about this abundant proof of Scripture's veracity in You Think You're Going to Heaven? My hope is that people will read my book and realize that we have accurate reports in the Bible. We don't believe just because we're supposed to and that's that.

Did the Seven Early Church Councils Make up Doctrine?

This is an easy question to answer. The councils were to affirm, not invent, doctrine.

One example of these doctrinal councils happened at Nicea in 325 A.D. The various church representatives came together to discuss the deity of Christ. Using the scriptures, they showed that Jesus was both human and divine. Some heretics had claimed that Christ couldn't be human while others were insisting he couldn't be divine.

These delegates also affirmed the twenty-seven canonical books.wich we have in the New Testament. The importance of this is that we can depend on those books to be the product of the Holy Spirit and not of mere human invention.

Look at what  2 Peter 1:20-21 (KJV) says. "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

Not only prophecy but the entire Bible is from God Almighty. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16 (BBE) that,  "Every holy Writing which comes from God is of profit for teaching, for training, for guiding, for education in righteousness:" Some translations use "God-breathed" to describe the origin of the scriptures.

Furthermore, the scriptures are provided to strengthen our trust in Christ. Look at what 1 John 5:13 (KJV) says. "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."

We can trust that these words came from God through various authors by the power of the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:3 (KJV) reads, "To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:"

I'll be writing more about the infallibility of Holy Scripture in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Eternity is thee most important matter we must ponder. Neither do we have an opportunity to change destinations after death so it's vital we get it right while we're here.

What Did Christ Do After He Rose?

Easter is over and it's on to the next event, or so it is with many people. In North America, it's Mother's Day. And as important as it is to recognize the hard work these women do in raising children, so should those folks who make disciples of all nations be recognized.

Christians are familiar with The Great Commission. Mark 16:15 (KJV) says, "And he (Christ) said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." We understand the "go" part but many missionaries in the past have forgotten about discipleship.

Luke recorded what Christ was busy doing before his ascension. Acts 1:3 (KJV) states, "To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:"

And it wasn't just a handful of disciples who our Lord met after his resurrection. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:6 (KJV)  "After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep." The word "sleep" in this case means death.

Jesus had many things to teach his disciples before he ascended. They couldn't understand at first that his kingdom was spiritual in nature and that he came to save all who would repent and follow him throughout space and time. John 12:16 (KJV) explains, "These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him."

I also had many misunderstandings of what Christianity entailed. For this reason, I plan on writing my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? My hope is that I may save my readers from missing the mark and ending up in hell because of false teachers.