Question Two: Is this a safe place?

“As people today become less trustworthy, insecurities are heightened and hinder people’s ability to engage God’s purposes for their lives. Sadly, they simply don’t trust like they once did.”

Of course, such uncertainty is understandable. Enough scandals have populated the air waves–even some involving spiritual leaders–that people don’t assume any place is safe. So people are entering our churches today with a different level of caution than they did just a decade or two ago.

Here’s a few things to be mindful of:

1. Trust is not a given.

It hasn’t been that long ago that church was a place one could go to feel safe. People had a certain expectation of ministers and church people, and they were seldom disappointed. But while only a few have had their trust personally violated, those occasions have drawn enough attention that nearly everyone entering your church is a bit skittish as they “check you out.”

2. People want to know you first.

The days of people casually dropping their babies off in the nursery are behind us. Now, the thought of leaving their child in the custody of someone they’ve never met just isn’t as automatic as before. Yes, she looks like a nice lady, and yes, this is a church, but many will choose to keep their baby with them in the church service and be highly offended if it’s assumed that they won’t. Since trust is no longer automatic, it must be earned–and that can take a little time.

3. People fear being exposed.

Safety doesn’t just speak of physical cautions. Feeling safe includes not making a fool of myself or having someone else do that for me. The greatest fear many guests have when they enter your church is standing out or embarrassing themselves in some way. Churches that make a public display of their guests cross a line for many. Their efforts to be welcoming actually have the opposite effect. Remember this principle–the larger your church, the more likely people expected to be anonymous, at least until THEY decide not to be. Demanding personal information isn’t a good first step either. Get to know people and let them warm to you at their own pace.

4. What people don’t understand makes them uncomfortable.

Another component of safety includes what they experience. When people are asked to engage activity that’s unfamiliar, most feel awkward–and that seldom leads to a good experience. If your church has some worship practices that seem beyond what the guest expects, you need to explain what’s happening and why or that discomfort escalates. If people pray out loud, raise their hands, speak in tongues, or display any other behavior beyond quiet listening, somebody better explain the what and the why. It only takes a few minutes, and it can be the difference between a “safe” experience and one that sends people away with no desire to return.

5. Quality children’s ministries matter.

Now, fun activities and great lessons are great, but in the area of safety, “quality” means that we look like we know what we’re doing. The safety of classrooms, the caliber of our workers, and the organization of our processes send a message about quality. If things look chaotic in a children’s classroom, parents won’t feel safe leaving their children in there. If things really are chaotic, children won’t feel safe either–and if they don’t want to come back, mom and dad will probably vote with them.

So, Look around your church and ask, “Does this place convey a safe feeling?” It’s a high priority question when people visit you today. Consider the steps you can take to demonstrate a hearty “YES” when people are wondering if your church is safe.

The questions have changed. People who visit your church have something else on their mind as they make their maiden voyage into your Sunday service. In this blog, Dr. Mike Clarensau takes a look at these new questions and offers some insight into how we can answer them most effectively.

So, let’s dive in with our first question which is probably the most important of them all.

Question one: Can I find friends here?

Honestly, this question ranks so far ahead of Question two that it’s almost impossible to overstate its importance. People need friends.

“As our culture becomes more fragmented, relationships have become more critical to our emotional well-being.”

And it’s not hard to see how desperate people are for quality relationships. They risk exposing their lives online, will attend just about any concert and risk any environment, just to find the connections their life desperately needs.

So some decide to give church a try. After all, in theory, they should be able to find a better batch of potential friends in the church than just about anywhere, right?

So if they come in looking for friends, what will they find? Will they find a church where friendly means we are friendly to each other, but you have to attend five or six weeks before we start really talking to you? If that’s the case, I can guarantee that they won’t be back.

Here’s a few suggestions:

1. Start calling new friends your “guests” instead of “visitors.”

I realize it may seem like mere semantics, but a guest is someone I have taken responsibility for. I will show them around, get to know them, and make every effort to be certain that they are comfortable and finding their visit to be pleasant. A visitor is someone who has entered of their own initiative. Now I know each one starts as a visitor, but I want them to be our guest from the moment they walk on the parking lot.

2. The parking lot – there’s the first place for us to be friendly.

Placing some friendly faces in the parking lot who offer a wave and a smile (and maybe some parking help) lets someone know that your church is a friendly place. Since friends is what they’re looking for, things look hopeful when I’m greeted by a lot of smiles.

3. Put your friendliest people at the front door.

It’s more important to greet people well than it is to give them a bulletin so don’t ask someone to do both. You can hand me a bulletin as I enter the auditorium, but at the front door, greet me with a kind smile and a genuine interest in who I am. That’s how friendships start. I’ve been to too many church doors where “bulletin-passer-outer” lady shoves it to me and doesn’t even say “hi.” Apparently she’s not a multi-tasker. Let me know this is a welcoming place by the wonderful way someone greets me at the front door.

4. Put some greeters in the auditorium too.

If you don’t, your guests won’t know where to sit and they’ll end up sitting by…well, you know. The best place for guests to sit is near someone who will be friendly. Don’t put them down front where they might get trampled by expressive worshippers and don’t let them sit in the back where there’s a whole other church culture. Seat them on the front edge of the middle and near people who will greet them and get to know them when there’s an opportunity.

5. We’re not a friendly church unless we’re talking to our guests!

We can’t predetermine who a guest will connect with. We can’t guess which ember of our church might become the life-long friend they need, but we can show them that there are a number of possibilities in our crowd. The more people who are friendly to guests, the more they will see that we are a place where they can find friends.

And that’s what they’re looking for, more than anything else…

So, how should we respond? In this blog, Melody Gray Block, Certified Financial Planner and MBA, shares how we can turn to biblical scripture for our questions about financial uncertainty.

How should we respond?

Sometimes, the pressure to do something – anything can begin to overwhelm us and it often creates increased anxiety and stress. We need to be careful to not make emotional decisions which could potentially lead to worse financial conditions. Emotional reactions can even cause us to start pointing fingers at loved ones which is not beneficial or productive.

First, we should remember that it is not the events or situations that occur in our life that makes the difference in how we progress, rather it is how we respond to those events. Instead of allowing fear to lead to panic which leads to hysteria, we should pause and remember God is Sovereign and in Control! Whatever the situation or circumstance, it did not take our Heavenly Father by surprise. That being said, here are five ways that we, as believers, can respond during times of financial uncertainty!

1. The best way to combat fear is to know His love for you (John 3:16), use your shield of faith to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one (Ephesians 6:16), and mediate on His truth daily (Joshua 1:8).

Remind yourself that our Heavenly Father is on the throne, remind yourself of His promises in His word, and remind yourself of His unconditional love, goodness, and mercy that He has for you (Psalm 23:6). Find those verses that resonate for you and repeat them over and over, meditate on them, and ask the Lord to give you His wisdom as He gives it freely to you (James 1:5).

2. Know that God is the owner of all things (Psalm 24:1) and we are called to be faithful stewards (1 Corinthians 4:2; Luke 16:11-12).

Thus, we can rest knowing that He is in control and owns all things. As faithful stewards, our focus should be to seek to understand Biblical Financial Principles to faithfully manage the resources He entrusts to us. We should be open to His wisdom and sensitive to how He directs us so we can find ourselves prudent in all financial affairs.

3. Place your hope only on our Lord Jesus Christ!

We should remind ourselves that He is our provider (Matthew 6:26-33; Acts 14:17; Philippians 4:19). He is our true source. Our source is not a company, customer, market, bank account balance, investment portfolio balance, or income check. Jehovah Jireh is our true provider (Genesis 22:13-14). Rest in Him knowing that He is your source; He cares for you; and He loves you.

4. Learn to be content in all circumstances (Philippians 4:11-13).

Paul set a great example for us as he learned to be content in all circumstances. Whether we abase or abound, we can trust our Heavenly Father to provide for us as we continually seek Him and listen for His voice daily.

5. During times of uncertainty, be encouraged as we gain an opportunity to learn to Trust God more!

Remind ourselves of the promises He has given us as children of the Most High God! He will never leave us nor forsake us (Deut. 31:6); do not be anxious about anything (Philippians 4:6); and cast our cares on Him who cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). As we continue to be strong and courageous and continue to recognize God as our provider and protector in our lives, we begin to enjoy His peace as we rest in the shadow of the Almighty and seek His face.

What can we do?

We should start or continue to practice Biblical financial principles and habits in our lives. The Bible has over 2,300 verses on money and possessions which teaches us timeless financial wisdom we can apply to our lives no matter the current economic environment. Here are five key financial principles we can continue practicing today:

1. Spend less than you earn (Proverbs 21:20).

It is easier said than done, but in times of turmoil, you may need to triage your spending and scale back on variable expenses. First, focus on meeting your most important needs such as tithing, a place to stay, electricity, and food for yourself and family. Second, you should prioritize maintaining all debts and other items to the best of your ability. Lastly, we should limit or minimize spending on non-essential items such as eating out or other casual spending. Instead, find creative ways to entertain and feed your family. Ask the Lord to give you His wisdom on what you can do in your situation.

2. Avoid the use of debt (Proverbs 22:7).

During uncertain times, it is best not to take on increased debt unnecessarily. Each time you take on debt you mortgage your future and in turn increase your monthly or annual obligations. By limiting the use of debt, you can ensure you can maintain your expenses even with a lower monthly cash flow and give yourself the best possible chance to more quickly recover when increased cash flow or increased income returns.

3. Maintain some liquidity (Proverbs 6:6-11).

In other words, be able to gain access to cash when it is needed. During periods of uncertainty, anxiety begins to build when there is limited access to additional cash if needed. Focus on building cash reserves to increase your financial margin which will assist in keeping anxiety at bay. A good time to build liquidity is when there is a surplus in your cash flow. If you are at a point of financial uncertainty with limited cash, then find ways you could raise cash such as a second job or selling unwanted or no longer needed items in your home.

4. Set Long-term goals (Luke 14:28; Proverbs 20:18).

It is important to keep a long-term perspective. Be cautious about making short-term decisions which will ease your anxiety today but cause greater harm in reaching your longer-term goals. If the circumstance you face could be considered a short-term scenario, then it is important to consider the best decision today without sacrificing your future goals. It would be advisable to monitor your anxiety (Philippians 4:6-7), seek wise counsel (Proverbs 19:20-21), and diversify your assets (Ecclesiastes 11:1-2).

5. Give generously (2 Corinthians 9:6-8).

Too often in a time of financial uncertainty, most individuals believe it is prudent to limit or decide to stop giving to their local church. My encouragement is to continue to tithe and give offerings even in times of distress. Giving is the single best antidote to greed when times are good and demonstrates your Trust in the Lord to provide for you in times of distress (Malachi 3:10). Do this and watch your relationship with the Lord grow closer and closer!

In my 20+ years in the financial services industry, I have developed my own definition of Financial Freedom.

“Financial Freedom is when a believer recognizes that God owns it all and learns to successfully implement Biblical Financial principles to steward the resources entrusted to them with an open hand as God directs” (Psalm 24:1; Proverbs 27:23).

Allow this time to build your relationship with God in new ways which you have not yet experienced before as you learn to Trust Him more and more in every circumstance you face.

I was seated on a 2,000-pound rodeo bull seconds away from the chute opening. The teenage cowboy asked me if I was ready. I couldn’t think of anything else but holding on for dear life, but I slowly nodded my head, questioning how a rational man of my age could find himself in this position. The chute opened and this wild rodeo behemoth took off, bucking wildly. Six-seconds later, I lay on the ground, covered in sawdust, and hurting like I’d been thrown from a moving car. Why? Because I want to live the kind of life that when someone says, “I’d never!” I can reply, “I did!” No one can take that equally frightening and exhilarating experience away from me. I own it forever how long my memory persists. I did not just pay $10 to ride a bull at a Cowboy Church. I paid $10 for an experience…and the worst bruise of my life.

The Experience Economy traffics in memories and bragging rights. There are three basic components in the Experience Economy: the memory or experience is the product, the transformation becomes the product, and it is what comes above and beyond the product.

Perhaps you have heard someone describe themselves as an “experience junkie.” That person lives for life experiences. Younger generations are reporting that they value experiences more than material possessions. There is something for the church to learn from Gen-Z’s desire to participate in the Experience Economy. Allow me to advocate for a biblical Experience Economy that does not promote a shallow entertainment experience or mere bragging rights, but rather offers the hope of transformation and fulfillment through an encounter with the biblical Christ. Kerry Taylor, EVP of MTV International and chief marketing officer of Viacom UK, stated that Gen-Z desires family, friends, traveling, having fun, and creating deep connections. She said, “As a brand, it’s our responsibility to find ways to deliver on that happiness.”[1] Is there anything on that list that the church cannot offer? You may point out traveling but a couple a mission trip with friends with whom you have deep connections because of small groups, and you have something a Gen-Z will find fulfilling.

3 Components of the Experience Economy

1. The memory or experience is the product.

People pay thousands of dollars for front row seats at a concert by their favorite artist or spend extravagantly to see their team play in the Super Bowl. It is the memory and the experience which they are purchasing. You may be thinking, “I wish people fought over front row seats for my sermons,” and I wouldn’t blame you for that way of thinking.

In the biblical Experience Economy, we advocate for a product that is intangible and yet firmly biblically-based. As Jesus said, God is spirit and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. We offer a restored relationship with our Creator. We offer the forgiveness of sins. We offer hope. We offer the opportunity to experience love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control among other believers. We offer deep, authentic, relationships in the body of Christ. We offer transcendent experiences through prayer, worship, or a Spirit-empowered conversation.

“When people walk into our churches, are we offering an experience by which they create lasting memories?”

Are we being used by the Holy Spirit to deepen relationships and build community? Is the Holy Spirit moving freely in our worship experiences? If the space for experience isn’t made, you will find younger generations exiting the church for other fulfilling experiences.

Mike Yaconelli, the founder of Youth Specialties, wrote, “Why do so many youth ministries spend all their time talking about God instead of helping young people experience God?” Getting Fired for the Glory of God. Again, we want to have an experience at church, but we do not want one absent of the Scripture or its principles.

2. The transformation becomes the product.

I was able to travel to Israel for a tour of the Holy Land. Before I went, the tour leader told me that the experience would change the way I read the Bible. I listened but thought perhaps he was overhyping the value of the experience. After the trip, I knew he was right. In the context of the Experience Economy, the trip offered not just the opportunity to travel, but it offered the hope of personal transformation.

Many people make resolutions to lose weight. They are unhappy with their current weight and desire to lose the extra pounds. Look and listen to the advertisements for weight loss. The testimonials focus on the past condition and the physical, and sometimes emotional, transformation. Everyone wants the experience of transformation. We long to be changed. We pursue transformation. We flock to movies about transformation, whether they be superheroes or historical figures. Humanity is drawn to the hope of transformation.

Jesus did not sell a product when He recruited the disciples. He sold a transformation. “I will make you fishers of men.” The promise of transformation was enough to make them drop their nets and leave their families. Biblical Experiences will lead to transformation. Steve Taylor writes, “…experiences must lead to transformation and honoring Jesus as the master of human transformation.” When the Holy Spirit provides us with a supernatural experience, we must reflect on how that experience is leading us to transformation and honoring Jesus.

In one of our SAGU chapels, a student came to me during the altar time and said that he had been praying and felt two hands pressing hard on his back. He reported that when he looked up, there was no one there. He said he believed that Jesus or an angel had been pressing on him. I responded, “That’s great. Why would God do that?” He stammered, “I don’t know.” I challenged him that if God gave him a supernatural experience, it was not just for the purpose of having an experience-God wanted to teach or tell him something. After a few minutes of talking and reflecting, he said, “I think God wanted me to know that He is here, and He is with me.” I responded, “Great! The Word of God says that He IS HERE, and He IS WITH YOU!”

Spiritual transformation, life transformation, is the product in the biblical Experience Economy.

3. Experience is what comes above and beyond the product.

When I receive my tax document indicating how much my wife and I have given to the church, there is always a statement that says, “No goods or services were received in exchange for your contribution.” It not only is a legal statement; it is literally true. I may leave the church service with a big, warm, sweet interior glowing, but it didn’t come in a package. It is intangible. It is spiritual. The very meaning of spirit, the Greek word pneuma, is breath or air.

The parking lot, the foyer, the welcome center, the sanctuary. All are locations that can create an atmosphere by which visitors and church members are more inclined to an experience with God. How can the flow of traffic or the parking lot attendants can create a positive first impression? What is the foyer communicating? Is it a place conducive to relationships? Is the location of the welcome station easily identifiable and are the greeters welcoming? Does the sanctuary create a space where people can have a sacred experience?

In Conclusion

As you seek to create an atmosphere in which people can experience the Holy Spirit, remember that we cannot and should not manipulate that experience. We are space-makers. We are intentional in allowing the biblical Holy Spirit to be the source of the experience rather than our slick production values or our dynamic personalities. Joel Lusz wrote, “An experience without God’s truth is entertainment. God’s truth with no experience is boring.” And there is the essence of a biblical Experience Economy. The experience comes from God as the biblical Gospel is proclaimed.

P.S. Let me know the scariest, craziest, or most unique experience you’ve ever done.

P.S.S. If you ever want to ride a bull, let’s go together. I know a bull and I wouldn’t steer you wrong.

References

, Accessed on February 9, 2020.

Jay Delp and Joel Lusz,,Just Shoot Me! (Grand Rapids, MI: Youth Specialties/Zondervan, 2002)

Steve Taylor, The Out of Bounds Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Emergent YS/Zondervan. 2005), p 88

TRANSCRIPT

– Melody Gray Block – She is a certified financial planning professional and has been involved in the financial services industry for 19 years. She helps small business owners and individuals get their financial house in order through a comprehensive financial planning services to include insurance and investment management services. She is a retired army veteran serving over 20 years and is currently serving on the SAGU business faculty. Please help me welcome: Professor Melody Gray Block. Thank you very much. Please give a hand for Coach Harmon Did’t she do an excellent job? Excellent job! You know, for those of you that don’t know, I used to play basketball. And I mean, I love to play ball. So anytime you want to go to the courts, let me know. So excellent job. I learned a lot of great things. So, what I’m really excited about is this opportunity. Thank you so much, Dr. Sanders, Dr. Taylor, Dr. Brooks, for allowing me to have the chance to just share a few things with you today. Of course, just like Coach Harmon was saying. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to talk about, but of course, the Lord always kind of comes through with that. Don’t you know? One of the things that I wanted to share with you is about money. A lot of times people go,’well why do you have to have this conversation,”. Right? We are in the spiritual realm here. Wait, ‘why do we need to talk about money,’? Don’t you know that a lot of us have a lot of doubts? How many in here have doubts about money? What is it? How do you make it? How do you manage it? Is it okay to manage it? Can I have some? Can I not have some? Right? What does the word say about money? Right? There’s a lot of doubts out there. If you go to a bookstore you’re going to find a number of different things out there. Even about just how to manage money. Right? Just, how to create a budget. Something very simple. But there’s going to be tons of books out there about how to manage or create a budget. Right? Wouldn’t you say? So it creates a lot of confusion, a lot of confusion. Even just how do you manage it. How do you make it? What do you do with it? What does the word say about it? So what my goal is today, and what I want to share with you is: four principles or four perspectives, I should say, that allow you- so that you can take a hold of what I want to share with you today. It will be more impactful to you than anything else that you learn about money. And I know that’s a pretty broad statement. You’re like, ‘Man, that’s a pretty huge guarantee,’. I’ve worked with people that struggle month to month, with people who are multimillionaires, and I have to tell you that the word of God has a lot of powerful words to say about money. Don’t you know that? There’s over 2,600 scriptures if you were aware about money and possessions. This is a big deal. Right? God spends a lot of time talking about this because it is a really big deal. So what I want to share with you are not only these perspectives but I’m going to also end with five different habits so that you can take these habits and you can apply them to your life. You will make a difference. And it doesn’t matter if you’re managing a $100 dollar allowance from your mom every month or if you’re managing $100 million dollar business. The principles are the same. The perspectives are the same. So I want to and I’m looking forward to sharing some of these with you. So why is this so important? Why does God say so much about money? It’s because of this, in Matthew 6:21 it says: “For where your treasure is, is where your heart will be also”. Where is your heart when we have a relationship? We’re called to have a relationship with God. Right? Relationships are to the heart. Right? It starts with trust. All of those things. So where is your heart? When we take a look at our finances? You could probably take a look at your finances and see how do you spend money every month and be able to learn a lot about your habits and what’s important to you. Right? If any new game comes out and you’re willing to go get that new game before you tithe. Right. Maybe showing that we really wanted that game. Right? Then where are we with the Lord? As you start taking a look at how do you spend your palm and how you spend your money, everybody’s going to be slightly different with that. And there’s nothing wrong with that. We all have different values. We all have different perspectives and principles. But I will tell you, with God, where is your heart, is where year treasuries is. Where is your heart? And so that’s why it’s so important. Money alone has the power to pull you closer to God than you would ever think that you could get or further away than you ever think was possible. It has that power. That’s why it’s so important that we get this right. So important. So what I’m want to share with you are four different perspectives. And so it starts with our heart. When you deal with money, just like anything else that you do, just as Coach shared, that we have to have the right lens the right way to be able to see things or view things. So that right lens. As we begin to take a look at that and I want to share with you. Four perspectives or four lens to look at money. Okay, we’re going to talk about stewardship. We’re going to talk about faith. We’re talking about wisdom. And we’re going to talk about contentment. So let’s start with stewardship. Stewardship perspective: Song 24:1, ‘The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. The world and all who live within it,’. Guys, God owns it all. Right? He owns it all. He owns everything. What I love about this versus is that it tells me that the pressure is off. Right? I don’t have to own it. Right? The lord owns it. He owns everything. Everything He gives you, He owns. – I’m sorry. I think I’m ajusting a little bit. Is that okay?- But he owns it all. So God owns it all. And if you could really get in your mind, ‘Wow, anything the that the Lord gives you, He owns it,’. Right? Our only responsibility is-switch to this? Can you hear me? Is that better? Okay- So God owns it all. Right? So He owns everything. And when we can get that perspective that He owns it and our only job is to manage it, then it takes a lot of pressure off. Right? But the great thing is, is we don’t even have to know all of those things. He teaches those things. How to even manage that money in our word, and in the word. So our role is just to be a steward of His resources. It’s to the point where we can. Once you adopt the attitude or stewardship mentality, you’re poised to go to on an unforgettable journey and adventure with God. When you can get to the point that you can hold out your hand and everything that you have and you say, ‘Lord what would you have?’ and where you can just say if He comes to you and says, ‘We’re short. I want you to write $10,000 to your neighbor”. and you can easily say without a shadow of a doubt, without first questioning, ‘How is that going to affect my retirement planning? How was it going to affect that thing that I was want to save for? How is that going to affect this that and the other?’ and you can literally just say, ‘Lord, absolutely. You want me to write a check to this person? I got to write it,” with an open hand. And when you can get to that spot, and when you can get there with that perspective, then you’re going to go to some amazing places with God because God is looking not just for stewards, but He’s looking for sons and daughters. Sons and daughters that He can trust. Right? He’s going to do a huge move of God. There’s a huge move of God going on right now. There’s no doubt in my mind that the people and the students that are here at Southwestern are going to be going to be world changers. He’s going to impact you in ways that not only can you impact others within your community, but within businesses that you have. But He can only do that if He can trust you. Right? Only if He can trust you with those resources. So, when you can be in that position, where you are a son or daughter of God, and that you say, ‘Lord, what would you have for us to do is what I want to do,’ because we won’t have to be concerned about that. Right? Because He says He would never leave you nor forsake you. So you don’t have to be concerned about what I’m going to do or how am I going to take care of myself. or how am I going to take care of my family or how am I to do this? Right? The lord has all of that in mind. So when you can have that perspective that God owns it all, the role, and our role is understanding our role is that we are stewards of his resources. It takes that pressure off. The other perspective we want to take a look at is the faith perspective. In Hebrews 11:6 it says that, ‘Without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who is,’- I can’t really read that- ‘when it comes, they must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him’. What would you do? What would you have me do with the financial resources that you have? It takes faith. Right? Sometimes when you first- when God first tells you, ‘Hey, tithe,’ sometimes that first tithe check takes faith. Right? Like truly a tithe?. Right? Not just your $20 right? A true tithe. When you really have and you take that step you’re like- but I want to have that bill. Right? But it’ll be all right. I mean, I did have that journey when the Lord first told me to tithe, then I was like, ‘How Lord?’. He’s like, ‘I got this thing.’ I was a single lady and I don’t have any other resources. Nobody else to call on. Lord are you sure? I had to literally sit and just read it over and over and over. “Trust the Lord, lean not on my own understanding.” Right? When you have to continue to get that, but when you can get that, when you can have that faith, to step out and manage finances this is the way the Lord says, ‘There is a reward.’ Actively trust. The hard thing about it is, I can’t always see that it’s very good. Sorry, guys. Actively trust Him to uniquely guide and direct our steps. Guys there’s so many verses in the Bible that talk about money and the impact of money. So He’s there to guide you and direct you even within your finances. Sometimes people think, ‘well, that’s world stuff,’. Right? ‘God doesn’t know about money.’ Have you ever heard that? Am I right? This is the real world stuff. Right? My dad used to say that to me, ‘This is real world stuff melody,’. Right? I’ll tell you what: God knows way more about money than we do. Right? He has so much to say about money and how to run a business inside the word of God. So we can actively trust Him? Just like we can absolutely trust Him to guide us to the right person to marry. Right? The right job to take. We can trust Him when we have a situation or financial burden or a bond or a situation we’re dealing with. We can say, ‘Lord what would you have for me to do in this situation?’. Right? He’s there to guide us and direct us. As I’ve said before, having that position where you can literally hold your finances out and say, ‘Lord, what would you have me to do with this?’. If he was a blessed Professor Watson with a million dollars first decision is not, ‘What am I going to do with that,’. Right? The first decision is, ‘Lord, what would you have?’. Right? What would you have? What was, what is your goal with that? Well, we can also be in that position that it doesn’t matter how much I have or where it comes from. The father, ‘You have a plane and direction,’. I trust that. Right? When you can have that position to really just hold it out and really seek his direction. But that’s hard. Right? I mean, when the first time you get a huge jump in pay, or you might get a huge influx of cash, it’s really tempting. Right? Truthfully, right? It’s tempting to go, ‘man, I’m going to do this, and I’m going to do this,’ and we’ve already got it set in our mind. Right? But when you can consciously go before the Lord and say, ‘Lord, whatever you would have,’ and honestly position it and lay it at his feet, you will see amazing things happen. As we continue to walk by faith thinking about God’s direction, God will and can sometimes use money to test our lives and to sharpen us. Know that one of the greatest things that, and I’ll talk more about it in a minute, but, one of the great things that Paul said is, ‘Whether our base are bound, I learned to be content.’. Right? So it doesn’t matter as we begin to walk things out. God may put you in a position that allows you to make additional money and learn lessons. Right? You might be in a position where He recruits you to go someplace that you’re like, ‘Lord, how are you going to make it work?’. Right? But it takes faith knowing that wherever He directs, He provides. It may or may not be in the way that you want or how you want. You may not be able to get that car that you want or that other situation you might want, but we can trust Him that he’s going to direct us. Where he directs, He will provide. And of course connecting your faith journey with your financial journey. Guys there’s no doubt in my mind that as I began to go to the Lord more and more and more when it came to my finances, as I began to see clients go more and more and more to the Lord to find out more and getting closer to the Lord with their or their spiritual life, and combining that with their financial journey. Guys it will bring you so much closer to the Lord than you would ever think is possible. And I would challenge you to try to attempt that. The other thing that I want to share with you is wisdom perspective. Wisdom Perspective in James 3:17, “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all purer than peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” There is so much when we start taking a look at the word. There are so many verses and so many parables about money and possessions because this is the one area that can obviously pull us away from the Lord. God’s works and speaks, of course, with authority. It is timeless guys. It never changes. Right? What Jesus talked about 2000 years ago applies today. And it will apply in 2000 years from now. So having the wisdom, the financial wisdom, the business wisdom, that is our work and in the word of God- it’s timeless and it will supply all and apply to all financial decision making skills or making decisions you need to make. Contentment perspective: First Timothy 6:6, ‘But godliness with contentment is great gain.’. In the world we have this perspective: more money, more things. It’ll make me more successful. It’ll make me more secure and I’ll make and be more significant. Right? That’s the world’s perspective. And sometimes it’s really easy, even as Christians, that we think, ‘Well, we have to be prepared, and we have to do these things, and the word says we need to do this,’. And it says we need to do that! Right? There’s so much that it’s so easy for all of us to get so caught up in making sure about we have and pursuing those things that we feel that everybody else on Facebook or Twitter or whatever else we follow says that we need to have to be successful and secure and insignificant. I going to tell you, there’s only one thing that you need to have to be successful, secure, and significant, and that is Jesus Christ. That is Jesus Christ. And when you have that, and you’re following what he has called you to do, whatever that is then that’s going to be more impactful in your life and in those lives of those lives around you. More than you would ever think is possible. Paul as I shared said, I need to learn that. He had learned to be content whether he had much or had little. He had- So whenever we have a position, or we have an attitude, that doesn’t mean that we don’t continue to strive. Always strive but continue to pursue things that the Lord would have. Right? It doesn’t mean, we sit back and watch Netflix all day. Right? Then, I mean, we do that. But it does mean that, you know what, I’m content with whenever or wherever I’m at. Whatever the Lord has me. That’s where He has me. I’m there for a reason. Whatever that reason is. And that we can trust that He will provide And He will never leave us nor forsake us. And that He will provide whatever needs that we have and to keep our lives free from the love of money in all be content with all that we have. It is important that, as we continue to go forward, that we have that contentment for these four perspectives. If you can grab a hold of these four perspectives. It will make a huge difference in how you approach money and how you approach your life. The other thing that I would share with you and leave with you are like, ‘Okay. Well now what?’. God gives simple financial principles and scripture. When you apply them your financial future is more durable and more stable. These five principles. These five habits will make a huge difference in your life. These principles will apply whether you’re managing a little or you’re managing a lot. And that is basically the five things here, which is, 1) spend less than you earn right. Whatever you earn, whatever that is, you spend less than that. 2) You avoid the use of debt. Anything that you can do to avoid the use of debt would be advantageous over your life. If you’re using credit cards stop using credit cards. Right? Find another way to go about handle that in your day to day expenses. 3) Give generously. We should always give generously. Giving is the antidote to greed. Giving is the antidote to greed. So if you begin to find yourself, and in your own heart beginning to stir up because you have more and more, maybe you have an opportunity to be able to get a nice paying job or what have you, it’s easy to allow that money to take a hold of you. The antidote to that is to give. So give generously. It will continue to position your heart in the right spot. 4) Plan it for financial margin. That basically just means guys things happen in life. Good things, bad things. Maybe you’re doing just fine. But maybe your parents need something. Or maybe your child needs something. Or maybe a friend needs something. Be to operate within a financial margin within your life. And of course: 5) Set those long goals. A lot of times with goals or long term goals, we might set as car as a course. And we say you know I’m going to save for this or we’re going to save for that. And then on that journey with the Lord, the Lord’s going to say, man that’s a great job being a Steward of those resources that I’ve asked of you. Now I’d like for you to take so much of that. I want you to give this to this other person over here. So it’s going to be an amazing journey that if you can just take these perspectives and these principles. And if you just take this alone. This will make a huge difference, and huge impact in the life that you have today and in the future. So with that, thank you.

Is this a fight worth fighting? Is there a “right” size for local congregations or is one better than the other? In this blog, Dr. Mike Clarensau expounds on the matter.

Churches have come in a variety of sizes from the beginning.

While I’m not sure of the Early Church’s full facilities plan, the Day of Pentecost presented a large church challenge in its first altar call. At the same time, small gatherings of believers seem to crop up all across the Ancient Near East, some the result of the scattering of individual believers and some the result of larger evangelistic opportunities in the town square.

“So if various size churches have always been a part of the kingdom, why the need to prefer one over the other today? Perhaps the answer lies in the different ideas of the Church’s primary task.”

As I travel, I see some churches that believe strongly in the mission to reach lost people, while others seem to focus more on the deeper development of those already in the room. Some see the church as an organization while others prefer the imagery of family. Some are growing numerically, while some who aren’t insist that they are more spiritual.

Now a debate of this magnitude won’t be solved in a single blog (or even a dozen), but here’s a couple of observations that might inform the debate.

Observations

1. It seems that the more focused a church becomes on its true mission, the more they want what the other size has.

A smaller church that begins prioritizing its mission usually begins narrowing its focus, pursuing an outward vision, and reaching for greater excellence (the priorities of the larger church), while the larger church begins seeking greater intimacy in personal relationships and deeper discipleship development (the elements more often in reach of the smaller church).

Our task is both sides of this coin. You see, the Biblical purposes of the Church encompass multiple elements. We are to evangelize the world, we are to guide people in worshipping God, we are to love one another and equip one another for acts of service, and we are to give our resources for the needs of others. The large church usually does a couple of these better than the small church, while the small church often does the others better.

I get nervous when people reject numbers out of hand and I believe others give them too much emphasis. I believe God counts, and I know He writes down every name. He also leaves the 99 to chase after the one and even has your follicles calculated. That doesn’t mean that He judges greatness by numbers. In fact, He told us He judged greatness by servanthood–something I’ve seen both big and small churches do well and others do poorly.

2. Church size often reflects the capacity of people and leaders to manage a multitude.

These folks are effective at generating various types of resources and mobilizing them effectively. It can also reflect harvest timing as the seeds sown by previous generations in both prayer and evangelism can open the way for a larger harvest today. Big churches don’t get big by their programs (a common criticism from the smaller church), they get bigger by their shared passion and abilities to focus that passion effectively. Their programs are more often the tools discovered to preserve and manage their impact.

Smaller churches can have that same passion, but many have misplaced it. Many of these have become focused on themselves and built their church around the comforts of those who worship there. So sadly, they are left to either change or criticize those who do. The latter is a lot easier.

A larger church can face the same struggle. No attendance level will keep a church without vision and outward focus from decline. The same self-focused attitudes will crumble the large church too–it just may take a little longer since the peak was a little higher than in the smaller setting.

Bottom-line: Pursue God’s vision in your church and aim your hearts outward and you’ll have no reason to debate the church size issue.

Remember that the Church is about “Him and them,” and when we focus our thoughts upward and outward, God takes amazing care of us and our needs. Aim upward and outward and God will empower you and help your church become what He’s intended it to be. And the size of that result may be smaller than you figured or bigger than you imagined.

You don’t judge a church by its size. YOU JUDGE IT BY ITS HEART!

In the final installment of this series, we will discuss the two steps that the pastor and people must take together.

The first of these is to “discover the engine.”

Okay, that seems a bit unclear at first blush, but every church has an “engine” that can generate momentum and drive it forward. There is something that your church was made to do. Baseball players speak of a “wheelhouse,” a place where the hitter’s strength meets the pitch and maximizes his capacity. A pitcher wants to avoid a hitter’s “wheelhouse” because that’s where the hitter is at his best. For golfers, the idea is the “sweet spot”–that place on the golf club that makes a perfect connection, allowing the golfer to hit the ball where he intended, making his best possible shot.

Okay, maybe the sports analogies don’t clear this up for you, but there is something that fits. There is a focus, an effort, a ministry priority that every pastor is made for. Likewise, there are certain things a church can do very well. When you find these, you find the church at its most effective best.

The “engine” is a merger of three key components:

1. Leader’s passion

Not long ago, I visited with a pastor of a small struggling congregation. He was frustrated to say the least, so I asked him what he was truly passionate about. I figured talking about that passion might lift his spirit a bit. He begin telling me how badly he wanted to bring hope to broken people. His own story of brokenness and the love a church family had brought helped me see how this passion had developed. To see that same thing happen for others was the very reason he felt called to ministry. “I want to see broken people healed,” he tearfully exclaimed.

I instantly concluded that this was an “engine” he could drive forward. So I asked him, “Do you think your congregation could help you do this?” This leads us to the second component.

2. People’s abilities

What can we be good at? In most struggling churches, there’s a long list of things we’re not very good at, and when we spend a lot of time doing what we’re not good at, well, frustration is guaranteed (so is lack of growth). No one enjoys watching us try to maneuver our weaknesses.

He said, “Yes!” He knew that his people cared deeply for broken people and he’d seen them respond in love again and again.

3. Community need

I guessed that such an engine could connect powerfully with many people in his community. So we begin talking about how to shape the ministry of his church around this vision–healing broken people. It seemed to be the perfect merger of leader passion, congregation ability, and community need.

That’s where you find your engine. I attend a church where that engine is “life-change.” Everything is driven by this single priority. I pastored a church where “belonging” was the driving force. I’ve seen others where “investing in the next generation” or “passionately teaching truth” fire them up. Every church needs to find its wheelhouse or sweet spot–the central focus that can become their very best effort of ministry.

So together–pastor and congregation–the search for its “engine” becomes paramount. In church life, many books or assessment surveys try to tell you that addressing your weaknesses will get you where you want to go. But remember this:

Momentum and growth flow from maximizing your strengths. Endurance is achieved by addressing your weaknesses.

Find the engine, but do it together. Both pastor and people have to bring their contributions to the same table. When you find the spot where the leader’s passion, congregation’s abilities, and community’s needs merge, you will find the path that can bring the momentum you crave.

Aim outward.

Inward focus is the bane of the declining church. Like the natural pull of gravity, inward focus is where congregations drift unless they are intentional otherwise. We get focused on ourselves, what ministers to us, what we enjoy, how we get help for our problems…the list goes on and on. Little wonder that after walking a mile or two down this path, we get self-focused.

Congregations that lose their sense of mission have little left to do but look at each other. And after a while, it’s not hard to start picking at each other and finding flaws in one another. Conflict, broken relationships, and general weariness of each other is quite common in the latter stages of the church’s life cycle. The more inward focused we become, the less healthy the church will be.

Aim outward. The best way to do this is to take the engine (what we developed in the previous step) and aim that engine into the community. If the church’s engine is loving people, then find ways to show love to them out there. If the church has excellent teaching gifts, start aiming those gifts into the needs of the community. If musical talent fills the church, take it to the city park–stop limiting that ability to Sunday mornings inside your walls.

The best things happen when a church is aimed outward. Such moments give the people purpose, create potential for growth, and get us as close as we’ll ever be to living God’s intent for us. Remember, CHURCH ISN’T ABOUT US! It’s about HIM and THEM! When we get that focus, good things can happen.

Of course, God cares for our needs and wants to use His Church to minister to us. But He does that best when we focus on HIM and THEM. “Seek first the kingdom…” Remember?

I’ve yet to be in a growing church that wasn’t focused on those outside their church. Through friendship, ministry effort, and clear passion those churches see a harvest field and often abandon their own comfort to get out there.

At the same time, I rarely see such a church not growing. But it’s a partnership. I’ve met pastors who were driven to reach the lost, but their people weren’t on board. I’ve even encountered one or two scenarios where the passion was limited to the people, and the pastor was blocking the path. The point is that this must be done together.

Take your best efforts outward. Do the things you can do well in ways that your community can benefit. Figure out the engines of your church and drive yourselves beyond your church walls.

An outward focused church is the only church that fulfills Christ’s passion.

TRANSCRIPT

– [MUSIC PLAYING] Recent studies have shown that ancient libraries in the Mediterranean world kept in circulation scrolls and codices Book form usually for a minimum of 150 years often 200 and the most valued books if they started to get worn were re-inked. Someone would very carefully with indelible ink trace over the letters that were there. So that Codex Vaticanus, one of the big complete 4th century copies of the New Testament, was re inked in the 9th century after 500 years of continuous use so that it could continue to be used. Dr. Rosdahl said that I travel a lot, too much. Each time I say I’m gonna slow down. Strange things happen like my older daughter who lives with her British husband in England finds out she’s having twins this summer. And well, we just have to get over there. But I teach in Ireland on average about once a year for a week or so at a time at the Irish Bible Institute, which is just a short bus ride away from the museum open to the public where you can go in and see these and other documents from around 200. And I tell my students there it is completely possible that when you’re looking at those documents you are looking at copies of the original still well within 150 years. Now given the history of getting manuscripts as far from the Middle East as it is to Ireland, they’re probably not copies of the original but they very well could be copies of copies. You don’t have to see how many times you can say the word copies and that’s not the case with any other book or collection of books we know about anywhere in the world from antiquity. That’s what I just said. And I think I said that too. But “what if” is your mindset. Are you a “what if?” person? Any seniors here willing to admit it most of you have done your chapel already. What if I graduate and don’t immediately have a job? What if five years down the road I still have huge amounts of student loans? What if I haven’t yet met my life partner? Life is over. “What if?” And you can go through life torn up in knots about all the what ifs and never make a responsible decision and the same is true when it comes to biblical scholarship. What if tomorrow’s internet were to say that there was a discovery in the sands of Egypt of a document it could be conclusively dated to the 1st century and a fragment of it was pick a gospel-the Gospel of John. And in this particular verse it said something different and it was really different. Well, the answer’s pretty straightforward unless you can come up with an all encompassing conspiracy theory 300 years before Christians had any power base to even possibly execute conspiracy theories how all trace of that distinctive reading was lost from 25,000 manuscripts continuously traceable decade by decade from the beginning, then the only logical thing for scholars to do is say that’s eccentric. That’s an anomaly. Maybe we don’t know who did it or why they did it but there’s not one chance in h.e. double toothpick that it represents the original. So don’t lose sleep over the what ifs. Dan Wallace just up the road at Dallas seminary who is probably the leading American evangelical textual critic maybe the leading American textual critic and his center for textual inquiry likes to say slightly tongue in cheek. Holding up a Greek New Testament, I have the English here, you do have or we do have the originals or translations of the originals. We just don’t always know if it’s in the text or the footnotes and that’s not quite true. But it’s a lot closer to the truth than any of the stuff Herman says and maybe the most important point of all, not a single Christian doctrine teaching, ethical belief, perspective for a living, statement about worship. You guys do good worship. I wish I could take you back. You know what happens when you go to seminary? You’ve got a chapel and you’re just totally brain dead and you go, “We praise you Lord. “We praise you.” It’s so fun to see your enthusiasm. But you’re not one of the 12 disciples or Greek students, you’re not part of the elite. I’ll just stop. Stop saying that. You read and hallelujah. One of countless English translations and they’re all great. Glad you like that one. Why so many translations? Which one is the best? You want to know the only right answer to that question? None of them is the best for all situations. Every one was produced for a particular reason, a particular kind of audience. Somebody asked me, what do you recommend is the best English translation of the Bible? My knee jerk reflexive reaction is- For what purpose? And then we can have a conversation. Boiling a huge topic down to a very simplistic chart, there are three major philosophies- one says preserve the form, the word order translating the same Greek or Hebrew word with the same English word as long as it doesn’t lead to something ridiculous even if at times it’s not as clear or intelligible. If it starts to sound too much like Yoda, you’ve got to do something. But otherwise, go word for word. Formal equivalents at the other end of the spectrum is what’s called dynamic equivalence. Make it clear. Is there a sin greater than obscuring the word of God? Yeah, probably. But you know child abuse and things like that. But prioritizing intelligibility and clarity even if at times things aren’t quite so literal And of course, today, you probably know we mean “literal” to mean lots of things besides literal like I could have slept for 10 weeks literally…not literally.. that’s not humanly possible. But that’s another story. And then the third approach is optimal equivalence. I am not going to prioritize either at the expense of the other, passage by passage, verse by verse, phrase by phrase, I am going to try to have my cake and eat it too. I’m going to try to be as clear as possible and as accurate as possible, but knowing that without prioritizing one or the other. There will be times when the formal equivalent translations are a little more accurate and there’ll be times when the dynamic equivalent translations are a little more clear. And for those of you who like graphs, I was told you don’t have an enormous science department here, but maybe a little bit of math. Formal equivalence will make that the y-axis dynamic. equivalence wants to make that the x-axis. Here are some translations. Probably the two most used today. The ESV and the new Revised Standard version. The New Living Translation. some other ones that aren’t known as well. Great examples of dynamic equivalence and optimal by far the best known is NIV but there is also the Holman Christian standard now revised just called the Christian standard. There’s the net. There’s the common English Bible there’s some strange things that don’t fit into any clusters. And then there’s the Message, which is paraphrased it blows every category away. But even at the end of the day, they’re not that different. Most of the time, if you have logos or Bible works or accordance or some program where you can put 12 translations on the screen at once, you’re never going to look at those and go “I think they were translating different verses.” Now you will recognize when there is a very puzzling word that people aren’t sure what it originally meant like what about the little parable of the friend at midnight-the guy who wants to provide some bread for a friend who’s come after a long, tiring journey in the middle of the night. He doesn’t have any. He calls to his neighbor and Luke 11:8 says “even if the man will not get up and give him what he wants because he’s his friend yet because of his are. – is the wonderful Greek word and the King James Bible to this day has a perfect translation because of his importunity. Anybody know what that word means? And if you don’t. What good is it to have an accurate translation? The ESV is a little better. “It’s because of his impudence.” Now both my parents were school teachers. So I know they had a little bigger vocabulary than some, but my brother and I got accused on more than one occasion as we were growing up of being impudent. But I talked to seminary students today and they have no clue what the word means. Now just from what I told you, you might guess there’s a negative tinge to it. Well, how about the NIV- “because of your shameless audacity”- maybe five more people understand it. How about the New Living Translation? “because of your shameless persistence”- getting better. It’s persistence with an edge. And maybe the best English translation is a Yiddish word . And when somebody says that stay away from the splash zone Moxie-I don’t know this audience well enough to know if I can get away with this, but I’m leaving tomorrow, So why not.. slang, it would be “boy, he had brass ones.” OK, I’ll stop. OK, well going from the fire into the frying pan or whatever that metaphor is I won’t even ask what anybody thinks of when they read God’s words to Saul who became Paul in the King James version- “Why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” Is that what you want to read in church when all the high school kids are sitting in a group in the front and the junior high are behind them? Well, the new American standard won’t raise any eyebrows. There won’t be any Twitters either kind. Saul, Saul Why are you persecuting me? It’s hard for you to kick against the goads. and if you’re a rancher you might know what that means. But if you’re not Goad me on what does it mean? Southern New Living Translation changes the wording for the sake of clarity. “Why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will.” The good news Bible tries to use the metaphor and explain it. “You are hurting yourself by hitting back like an ox kicking against its owners stick. If you’re goading ox, you’re striking it on the side of a leg and the ox can’t go sideways fast enough to stop you. It just gets annoyed. The new international readers version made for children say, “Saul,Saul” the voice said. “Why are you opposing me? It is hard for you to go against what you know is right.” Don’t give a literal translation to kids. If you want to be interested in the Bible or people for whom English is a second language or someone who didn’t have the opportunity to complete an education. even in this country. Give them a dynamically equivalent translation for detailed study in your study. Because you haven’t done Greek or Hebrew, go for a formally equivalent translation in the broadest cross section of our world. If your church is not made up of all college educated people and some are, that’s great. But many are not. You probably want an optimally equivalent translation that will communicate best, the most often, to the greatest number of people. And that’s what I just said. I tend to do that when I teach. Also. All of them however, are more than adequate to teach you how to be saved, how to come to know God deeply to how to live a life of faithful obedience to him to know his will in countless arenas of life. Somebody asked me, “Are there any translations you should avoid?” I say to my knowledge, only to the Jehovah’s Witnesses new World Translation and the Joseph Smith translation of Mormonism but other than those we sort of have gotten over the worship wars of some years ago, and maybe you guys never went through them-hallelujah. But let’s get over the translation wars. They’re all good enough and many of them are great. It’s time for me to quit. So I have to come back and ask the question that we started with. “Can I trust the process of copying and translating very tentatively and cautiously?” I want to say-Yes!

TRANSCRIPT

– [MUSIC PLAYING] It’s my pleasure to introduce our guest speaker for our series. Dr. Craig Blomberg is a distinguished professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary. He completed his PhD in the New Testament at Aberdeen University in Scotland. He specialized in the parables and the writing of Luke- Acts and along with his teaching duties he ministers around the world. You might be interested to know that though he’s here with us today, later this year, He’s traveling to Ireland, England, South Africa, and Brazil as well as other places as well. He’s pretty busy involved in Bible translation and ministry as well. Dr. Blomberg is the editor and author of more than 20 books including some that we use here in our classes at Southwestern. But our focus today comes particularly from his work on the historical reliability of the scripture. His book- Can we still believe the Bible is what we’re kind of using as our theme for these next couple days. And so students what do you say to a person who comes to a view that says the Bible is so corrupt that that’s not even worthy to be trusted as scripture. How would you answer someone and these are, of course, all over social media questions like this. How would you answer the charge that the church has excluded the books that really should be in the Bible. Our guest has come to help us answer those questions if you would please give a warm SAGU welcome to Dr. Craig Blomberg.

Well, thank you very much. Dr. Bruce, sorry about all those exams and sorry to hear that you’ve some of you have had a book of mine inflicted on you. But I hope you survive. And how cool is it- I was picked up at DFW last night by a couple of your professors and they said, yeah apologetics is still kind of popular around here. And I went, wow, that’s nice. Defending the faith even if you’re the world’s greatest introvert and can’t imagine meeting somebody live and you talk to people online and they come from every walk of life and every belief or lack of belief and they may take the initiative to ridicule those of us who believe in Christianity and who believe the Bible is a reliable authority for us. I would not have imagined when I was in school that the topic, especially of today maybe tomorrow’s topic would be on somebody’s radar screen. But not today. We have called it rather boringly. How accurately was the New Testament copied and translated. When I was going to school if you wanted to avoid all the critical debates with liberal and unbelieving scholarship and take the safest possible topic. It was also the most boring. You went into textual criticism and you learned enough Greek and Hebrew not so much that you agreed to text, but you could read the footnotes. Who does that? And see the places where the manuscripts didn’t all say the same thing and learn how to make an informed judgment of what was probably the most original reading and the number of people interested in that or about as many people as I hear are in Dr. Reynolds Greek and Hebrew classes that I’m going to be meeting with later, he says we’ll be lucky if we have 12. That’s a good apostolic number. And then in 2006, a scholar by the name of Bart Sherman, who was on a pilgrimage running away from his upbringing, his conversion, his time in Christian universities and seminaries- he is still a professor of New Testament at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill wrote a book called misquoting Jesus. He didn’t create the title, the publisher did. And it was a brilliant idea at least for sales. Because everybody wanted to know, how did the church misquote Jesus? Well, the book’s not nearly as exciting as the title. It’s an introduction to the whole question of variance in different ancient manuscripts and how accurately was the text copied. For eight months in 2006, now I know some of you were seven then I think I did the math right. If you’re 19 now going on 20 but those are not best-selling books even with a catchy title. For eight months in 2006, Bart Herman’s “Misquoting Jesus” was on the New York Times top 10 best selling books of any category throughout the country. People’s faith was shaken. Why? because nobody ever talks about this stuff in church. And there’s no reason for that to have happened. I hope it’s not brand new news to anybody here that the first time someone wrote part of the New Testament- it didn’t look like this. Here is the oldest fragment we’ve ever discovered from the early second century of a few lines out of the Gospel of John chapter 18 but very quickly and certainly by the fourth century, we have entire new testaments written in all capital Greek letters pretty easy to decipher if you study even just a little bit of first-year Greek. That’s what the ancient manuscripts looked like. And they’re not all identical. Here is maybe the bombshell quote from Bart Herman’s book paraphrased. Some scholars say there are 200,000 variants, some say 300,000. Some say 400,000. As sophisticated as computer technology has gotten, We still haven’t been able to count them all. Let’s just play it safe and say there are more variance in the manuscripts of the New Testament than there are words in the New Testament. And suddenly everybody on their phones is gone. Omg-what’s going on. Well, I hope there’s a few people who can still do a little mental math. If that brings up horrible memories from high school, I apologize. But let’s say Herman’s biggest number is actually right. We ought to ask some questions about that number like out of how many manuscripts-just the two that you saw pictures of? Hardly. There are almost 5,700 manuscripts ranging from a scrap of a few verses to an entire New Testament in Greek from the pre-Gutenberg pre printing press era over the first 13 and a fraction centuries of church history. And there are about 20,000 additional manuscripts from that period of the New Testament translated into other ancient languages most notably Latin but other popular languages-you study them every day like coptic in Ethiopia. An old slavonic and Georgian. That’s the country, not the state of Georgia. And so forth. Well, now my mental math. If I round that off to about 25,000 divided into 400,000 that’s 16 unique variance per manuscript. That sounds a little more manageable. But still, what kind of differences are they? The vast majority are spelling variations. I don’t know if you believe in inerrancy of scripture. I personally do. But no one has ever said that in inerrancy extends to perfect spelling or grammar. After all,what is spelling or grammar other than the conventions of a society and the power brokers a.k.a. English professors at some point in time Who decides this is the way things should be spelled and if you spelled this way it’s wrong? Go back to British English. They would say just go back to English, since we’re the ones who corrupted and see the way people spell things just a few hundred years ago. That’s not included when we’re talking about errors. And the next most common is simply the use or non-use of little words that translate into “a” or “the” or “and” and don’t make a whit of a difference in the meaning of the text. Now there are some that are more interesting. The United Bible society’s edition of the Greek New Testament, possibly what the 12 people here study in Greek are using has about 1,500 footnotes from Matthew to Revelation and the average modern English translation has about 400 footnotes including versions on your phone if you know where to click and how to find them. And if you rely on a scripture on the phone you should make sure you do know how to find those textual variance. Read them, see what they’re like, most of them are comparatively uninteresting. But there are a couple that are big-12 verses in length. The so-called longer ending of Mark and the story in John 753 to 811 of the woman caught in adultery, but if I am reading anything other than the King James version, which is 500 years too old to know all this, I see in the text itself, the NIV the ESV has language that alerts me to the fact that the oldest and most reliable manuscripts don’t have this information. Here’s a picture of an actual text. You can see the words there in brackets. But those are the only two places where anything like that occurs. There are two dozen or so additional places where an entire verse as the scribes copied the text over the centuries was either added or omitted about half and half and occasionally those go to a verse and a half even two verses most of them are just about a verse in length. A fascinating one comes way near the end of the New Testament in first John chapter five and it’s one that the King James only folks love to throw out as how all modern translations are liberal. I John 5- I’m reading from the NIV but you could find the same thing in any modern translation. It says for there are three that testified the spirit the water and the blood and the three are in agreement. Well, I’m glad. I have no idea what they’re in agreement about. I’m not quite sure who the water and the blood are and how they testify but I’m glad they’re in agreement. But then I read my footnote and it says late manuscripts of the vault gate. That was the standard Latin translation for 1,000 years in early church history has after the word testify this addition- There are three that testify in heaven. The father, the Word and the Holy Spirit. And these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth. And then it goes on as we read earlier. A fascinating story for geeks like me is that the Catholic reformer Erasmus about 20 years older than Martin Luther a precursor to the Protestant Reformation creating the best Greek New Testament possible in his day when all Catholics were reading was Latin left out these extra words from the Latin because he could not find them in any Greek manuscript that he consulted and his Catholic superiors were outraged and said, you have to put those in. And he said you show me one Greek manuscript that has it. And I’ll put it in-bad move. The monsignor came back shortly afterward and provided the manuscript, which showed all the signs of having been tampered with. But Erasmus was true to his word and he put the words back in and the King James translators copied it and translated it, but I didn’t read you my whole footnote my footnote goes on to say after that extra little bit, not found in any Greek manuscript before the 14th century. Holy long period of absence Batman. And the 14th-century manuscript is found in is the one that was tampered with. There’s not one chance in while my dad used to say h.e. double toothpick that those words are original. And the King James only people say see here the liberals people that read the ESV-they’re deleting the Trinity. No, they’re not. They’re translating the original Greek and they’re not putting in what somebody added later in Latin and there are plenty of other passages that teach the Trinity. We don’t need this one. If you want to see another example, you’ve had time to copy down Acts 8:37. Sometimes it’s words that are left out. If I just pick one example here. I’ll pick the second one out. Luke 1:23-Jesus’ powerful words on the cross to the very soldiers who are nailing his hands to the cross beam and he says Father forgive them for you know not what you do. That was too radical for some early Christians. It was too radical for some Christians during a particular controversy where under persecution some fellow believers had denied the faith but mentally said, no, we still believe we’ll just outwardly say we deny it. And then after the persecution subsided they wanted back in the church and some people wanted to welcome them and others said, no, it’s too late. You’re damned forever and this group appealed to live. Luke 23:34-If Jesus can forgive those who are asking for forgiveness for those who are nailing him to the cross, surely he can forgive these people on the other side. We don’t want it. And we don’t want the verse either. But the vast majority of all of the examples even in English bibles just involve a handful of a couple of words. An interesting example in Mark 1:41 does Jesus have compassion for a leper or did he show indignation when he saw the leper’s disease and the damage it had done and the suffering that the man had. You can understand how a scribe would think, oh, that we don’t want Jesus to have emotions at least not those kinds. Compassion- That’s nice. But you know my Jesus is never upset. Yeah, well, let me tell you a story about when he went into the temple. Some of you know it, I think. And so several modern translations have determined that probably Mark originally said Jesus was indignant but based on a more common word in Mark’s gospel that he will use many times when Jesus is faced with disease or suffering scribes change that to compassion. It’s also important to debunk the notion as Herman said again in “Misquoting Jesus” that these kinds of handwritten text, This manuscript that you look at from a collection called the Chester Beatty papyrus in Dublin, Ireland, from about the year 200 give or take a few years. How far removed is that from what Mark wrote in the 60s of the first century and Herman says, “not only do we not have any originals, we don’t have copies of originals. We don’t have copies of copies. We don’t have copies of copies of copies. We don’t have copies of copies of copies of copies. we might have copies of copies of copies of copies of copies- say that fast a few times.

This article suggests ways to embrace fasting as a valued part of the normal Christian life. So, fill a large glass of water, put the soda and sandwich back in the fridge, and enjoy some calorie-free “food” for thought!

What is Fasting?

Fasting is deliberately abstaining from something important—typically food, in one form or another—for a given period of time. A true fast is always a self-denying choice, with food purposefully left in the fridge, in sharp contrast to running out of food and having nothing to eat.

Fasting almost always pursues some spiritual or physical benefit (perhaps both).

Fasts range from abstaining from selected food items during liturgical fasting periods (especially the Lenten fast before Easter) to water-only fasts. The “Daniel fast” (see Dan 1:12), consisting of veggies and water, is highly valued by many Christians, especially those not eager to attempt the water-only “Jesus fast” (see Matt 4:1–2). Daniel’s fast, in fact, closely resembles the liturgical fasts still faithfully embraced by a billion Christians worldwide.

During the forty days of Lent (“Great Lent”), millions of the faithful also “give up” targeted sources of pleasure or entertainment:

• movies
• social media
• time-consuming hobbies.

Such religiously inspired acts clearly express a beneficial form of self-denial. Still, they do not constitute fasting as used in this article.

Why Do People Fast?

Non-Christian motives for fasting vary widely, from eastern-religion asceticism to humanistic, self-centered fasts for various physical, mental, and “spiritual” benefits. Secular fasting gurus abound, promoting their latest bestselling books on National Public Radio—books that cost much more than a combo meal at your favorite fast-food restaurant. Running contrary to our society’s incessant addiction to more , a growing number of non-religious people are now embracing less !

As defined in this article, all fasters abstain from some or all food for a greater good.

For Christians, that greater good centers on four things:

1. Answered prayers
2. Becoming more like Christ
3. More sensitive to God at work in their lives
4. More victorious in their daily living.

Many Christians also pursue the secondary motive of becoming healthier people.

Physical health and spiritual vitality are never two mutually exclusive options on some lifestyle multiple choice question. Both improve as Christians fast; they are inherently complimentary in a life fully devoted to Christ’s lordship.

For those who actually believe that Jesus meant what he said, fasting is not an option. He gave specific instructions about fasting in the Sermon on the Mount: note that Matthew 6:16 states “and when you fast” (not if you fast) .

Jesus also foretold that, after his ascension, his disciples would fast! Three of the four Gospels record this comfort-challenging prophecy and implied command: Matthew 9:15, Mark 2:20, and Luke 5:35. Those texts contain no hint of an opt-out clause because of sugar-withdrawal headaches or caffeine-withdrawal shakes.

Christ’s disciples are characterized by fasting, especially when major decisions must be made (see Acts 13:2–3 and 14:23).

When I first began to fast monthly, I did not do so to devote myself to prayer. Rather, to my great surprise, prayer flowed almost effortlessly from my soul—as naturally as embarrassing odors flowed from my mouth and other parts of my body. As noted above, I fast primarily because Jesus said his disciples—the real ones, all of them—would do this!

He was, in effect, commanding me (and you) to engage regularly in some form of food abstinence. And I fast because it is profoundly, holistically good for me. Most of all, I fast to hear his voice, to know his heart, and to be surprised by both—again!

How Long Should We Fast?

Even if we accept fasting as part of the normal Christian life, key questions immediately surface.

• How much is enough?
• Does one meal count?
• What about two meals?
• Do we all need to fast for forty days to be like Jesus?
• Is fasting physically dangerous (especially if diabetic, etc.)?

So many questions arise about a spiritual discipline Christians in the West know so little about.

Varied answers abound for the how-long question.

As noted above, liturgical churches usually fast forty days during the pre-Easter Lenten season. Those who advocate the “Daniel fast” often set a ten-day to twenty-one-day fasting period.

Others promote no-food diets for a limited number of meals. Few, if any, recommend the no-nothing diet modelled by Saul of Tarsus (the apostle Paul) when “blinded by the Light” and totally dumbfounded in Damascus (Acts 9:9). Bible-based models are obviously quite diverse, as are medical-based models.

Prior to my 2011–to–2013 weight loss, the longest I ever fasted was one painfully abandoned meal. Early in 2012, however, I became consumed by a novel goal: “I will tithe my days through fasting three days this month . . . every month!”

These were—and remain for me—no-food days of exploring God and my own body, of confronting my cravings and food-focused destructive habits, of marveling at the fact that I rarely feel hungry, especially on day three.

I always break my fasts loving Jesus more, feeling food’s power over me shattered, and my prayers, thoughts, and goals dominated by God’s presence.

I began embracing (in ignorance) an approach to fasting with some scientific support in both the popular and scientific literature. Apparently three-day fasts with zero or near-zero caloric intake are really good for us!

What immediately amazed (and still amazes) me was the clear, centered, and cravings-free peace of day three. To date, I have not gone beyond a three-day fast. My spiritual, mental, and physical goals are satisfied, month by month, within those 72-hours.

Can We Truly Master Hunger and Cravings?

People who know my fasting lifestyle have asked how hungry I feel during those three days each month. My honest answer remains, “I’m almost never hungry!” Since I normally eat only two meals a day, I am already “fasting” part of every day.

The transition from my normal 16-hour “intermittent” fast to a 72-hour (three-day) fast is largely a hunger-free experience. Honestly, I wrestle more with hunger during non-fasting days than during those special hours of purposeful restraint. Even so, I am very grateful for that breaking-my-fast meal at the end of the three days.

Cravings are not hunger! True hunger is physiological; cravings are usually psychological.

God designed food to satisfy our bodies, not our minds! Far too many Christians bypass the Great Physician, preferring to self-medicate their inner wounds with food.

We must understand the purpose of food, for that understanding will empower us to value fasting as God’s way to bring holistic healing and comprehensive lifestyle change. In other words:

The purpose of food is
to push back true hunger,
so I can live and love,
and work and serve,
without weakness or distraction.

The purpose of fasting is
to embrace true hunger,
so I can cleanse body and soul,
and fellowship with Him who said,
“Man shall not live by bread alone.”

Until early 2012, I had little experience with true hunger. Even now, I struggle to distinguish hunger from the powerful pull of habits and the seductive sensation of cravings. I need three full days of fasting to relearn the difference.

Those three-day fasts crush my cravings and break my food-focused destructive habits —at least for another month! Giving thanks to God for his provision at the end of Day Three is an incredible joy.

A Final Appeal

Those who earnestly seek to follow Jesus must incorporate some form of food-focused fasting into their lives: view it as part of an authentic Christian life. From a biblical perspective, refusing to follow Christ into the emptiness of fasting is as unthinkable as refusing to follow him into the death-waters of baptism. Today, “when the bridegroom” is gone (Luke 5:35), our Lord is calling his follower to live out a fasting lifestyle.

¹ Adapted from chapter 10 in my book, Sweaty, Sore, Sometimes Hungry: The Painful Joys of a Living Sacrifice : © 2019, Resource Publications.