ALL Scripture is inspired by God

 

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” -2 Timothy 3:16,17

This past week at the Institute Debbie Jo White and Blake Holmes taught on Daniel and the Old Testament prophecies. As we walked through the prophetical books of the Old Testament, that most Christians pass over, it was good to remember that ALL scripture is inspired by God and good for equipping.

Of the 39 books of the Old Testament 17 of those are prophetical books;

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

12 were written pre-exile, 2 were written during exile, and 3 were written post-exile. Many were written to Judah but a few were written to Israel (Amos, Hosea), Assyria (Judah, Nahum) and Edom (Obediah) All the prophecies emphasis their own day, captivity and return, the first coming of Christ, and the millennial reign. And the theme of all the books are repentance and restoration through the future hope of the coming Messiah.

It was cool to read some of the prophecies that will come to fulfillment in the future and read some prophecies that have already been fulfilled and recorded in Scripture. Micah prophesied that Christ would come from Bethlehem about 700 years before Christ was born! Throughout our study two of my favorite books we looked at were Hosea and Micah.

Hosea wrote the book of Hosea to Israel before they were conquered by Assyria. He told the story of his faithfulness to an unfaithful wife and compared it to Israel’s unfaithfulness and God’s faithfulness. Hosea 3:1 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods.” But God shows grace when to those who turn from their sin and return to Him. Hosea 6:1-3 “Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him. So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.”

So many times I am like Israel but God is faithful. This book is a great reminder to return to the faithful Lord!

Micah is another book that I really liked learning about. Micah wrote to Judah before they were taken captive by Babylon. The book tells of the Lord’s indictment of the nation of Israel and tells what the Lord requires from His people. This is a question that Christians today wonder about and we took some time going through different verses that say what the Lord desires from us:

Micah 6:6-8 “With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Matthew 9:13 “’But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’”

Psalm 51:16,17 “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

God doesn’t care about burnt offerings or acts without the heart behind it and He wants His people to love like He does.

Through the Old Testament prophets I have understood more of God’s mighty power and wrath coinciding with His incredible love and mercy for mankind. This week really got me interested in reading the Old Testament prophets that I probably would have otherwise skipped over. There is knowledge to gain from all scripture, prophets included.

Evangelizing!

“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”

Matthew 28:18-20

This past week at the Institute we studied the topic of Evangelism. It was an incredible week of learning and I was challenged a lot as we looked further into Scripture about God’s call for Christians to share the gospel and what that requires.

Afshin Ziafat, a predominate and sought out Muslim-converted Christian speaker, spoke on Wednesday about a side of Christianity that most churches in America don’t preach- suffering and persecution. Someone told the class a metaphor saying, “If you saw someone walking blindfolded toward the edge of a cliff wouldn’t we grab them and pull them far away? So why is it that we don’t say anything to the friend, co-worker, or stranger who hasn’t heard the gospel?”

We’re afraid of rejection, afraid of persecution, and afraid of suffering. We like the parts of the Bible that make us feel good, we obey the commands that come easy for us, and we live out our faith when it’s most convenient for us and fits our busy schedules. We are refusing to accept the entirety of being a follower of Christ. We pay no mind to Jesus’ words that persecution will come as a result of following Him (Matthew 5, 10, Luke 21). We somehow forget that Jesus’ radical teachings put him against the worst persecution and lead Him to death on a cross! Paul wrote in Romans 8:16-18 that as fellow heirs with Christ we suffer with Him. But “we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” knowing that this time on earth can’t even be compared to the glory of heaven!

The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes! (Romans 1:16) Jesus’ death and resurrection that allows me to now be reconciled with Him is what gives me hope and joy and purpose in life. So if I, a proclaiming follower of Christ, am not suffering for the sake of the gospel, then what is it that I’m doing? If the gospel is the greatest message I’ve ever heard why do I not share it more? Why do I not want more people to know it?

Afshin gave us a better picture of what Christians in other parts of the world face because of their faith. Over in Iran, where Christianity is illegal, friends of his this very day are being harshly imprisoned after being caught sharing the gospel! They are risking everything to spread the power of the gospel. They have grasped Matthew 16:24,25 that says, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Well the day after Afshin spoke, Thursday, we were asked to step out of our comfort zone (and for many of us it was definitely uncomfortable at times) and go into the Branson community with the intention of sharing the gospel. There are many different methods Christians have come up with to share the gospel: Door-to-Door and Street Evangelism, Tracts, Soularium Cards, Romans Road, Four Spiritual Laws, The Bridge Method, Relational Evangelism, and Media Evangelism to name a few.

I went to Walgreens and Books-A-Million to evangelize relationally. My whole perspective on the day changed. Everywhere I went I was much more aware of the people around me and more engaged in the conversations we had. I cared more about what people were saying and when I went into a conversation with the hopes of sharing the gospel my questions to them were different. I would try to ask questions that could transition easily into questions about faith. At Walgreens there were a few ladies getting Christmas cards made in the photo center and I was surprised by how excited they were to just talk to someone about their family and what Christmas means to them. The ladies I talked to at Walgreens were all Christians and it was encouraging to just have a conversation with other believers. At Books-A-Million I had a good conversation with a lady working there who helped me find the book “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. She said she wasn’t a believer but had thought about it before. It’s interesting how willing unbelievers are to listen to your beliefs when you are genuinely interesting in listening to what they have to say. She’s still skeptical of Christianity but maybe she’s thinking more about it after our conversation.

I think evangelism has hurt the Church a lot because people go evangelize with the soul purpose of converting someone right then and there and it seems so forces and there’s a “holier than thou” attitude that’s obviously repulsive to unbelievers. There is not much willingness to listen, or care for the person- just get the message out there and go! But God is a relational God, He is patient, and deeply cares for the lost. Those are important for the church to remember when evangelizing. We’re supposed to spread the gospel and love and let God work.

Two verses that have been sticking out to me are-

2 Corinthians 5:20 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Matthew 16:24,25 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.’”

What I took away from this week on evangelism is that nothing I say or do will make an impact on the world without the Holy Spirit at work. But as a follower of Christ I have a responsibility to take part in the great commission and be willing to face whatever good or bad comes of it for Christ’s sake.