Posts Tagged: Bible

Resources — No Comments
19
Aug 09

Great Tool for Verse Memory

Verse Card Maker Logo


This is an incredible verse memory tool!  Creating verse memory cards has never been easier.

The ESV Bible Blog explains:

Using the ESV API, Michael Scott has developed a handy tool to help you with scripture memorization. His website takes a list of references and automatically fetches the texts, formatting them into business card sized cards for easy printing.

(Hat tip, Justin Taylor)

Cards are created in 3 easy steps:

  1. Enter up to 100 verse references
  2. Enter the date you will begin memorizing the verses you have listed along with the number of days between verses.  For example, beginning on September 1, I want to memorize one verse every five days.
  3. Click “Make Cards”

It’s that easy!  A PDF will be generated complete with your verse references, verse text, and dates to keep you on track.

Enjoy!

Share
Gospel — No Comments
21
Jul 09

Fuzzy Math & the Gospel – Part 1

Fuzzy Jesus Math

Jesus plus anything spoils everything.

Donald James Parker, a writer for the Sioux Falls Christian Examiner, wrote an interesting article on Sunday challenging this very idea.  He begins the article by posing the following question about this statement:

Let’s see – what is the book-chapter-verse reference for that pithy little epigram?

Unfortunately, this question sets the tone for everything that follows as Parker picks and chooses verses (namely from the Gospels) that, he claims, challenge the notion that “We must only trust that the death of Jesus on the cross was all that was necessary for us to gain eternal life.”

Rarely do I write the type of post that is to follow – that is, a direct, negative response. However, due to the nature of the topic (the Gospel and salvation) and the implications of Parker’s conclusions, I am compelled to write. My collective response will take form over the next few Foolish Cross posts.

Jesus Knows Best?

As Parker states, Jesus is the best source of truth regarding this issue:

Who would probably be the best source for this type of information? Hmm. Let me take a wild eyed guess and suggest Jesus might be knowledgeable on this subject since it was His flesh that was shredded, His blood that was shed, and His name that was mocked by the Roman soldiers and the mob.

I agree with Parker in that Jesus is very knowledgeable on the subject of salvation. However, he seems to have placed a greater emphasis upon and weight upon the words of Jesus, forgetting that:

All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 3:16, ESV)

All Scripture is God-breathed – not merely those words written in red letters. Further, the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life are not presented to us in a vacuum, but rather, in the context of the entire Bible.  Therefore, one is certainly safe to use the entire Bible (and should use the entire Bible) in developing a theology of salvation. To limit oneself to four books is dangerous and can result in an incomplete picture. All of Scripture points to the incredible Gospel of Jesus the Christ!

Old Testament, for Example

Is not the Exodus a picture of the Gospel? Christians have been rescued from slavery just as the Israelites were.

Jesus referenced manna when calling himself the “Bread of Life?”

The Day of Atonement? Jesus is high priest, sacrifice, and scapegoat. His body broken, the curtain rent. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was the perfect Yom Kippur.

Abraham and the near-sacrifice of his son Isaac? The son of Abraham is spared, the Son of God is not.

The suffering servant in Isaiah?

What is lost if I disregard these illustrations? How has my understanding of the Gospel changed?

6 Reasons

Parker produces six examples of things that (Jesus said) one must do in order to attain salvation. In Part 2 I will begin to look at each these items.

Until then, feel free to comment below.  Do you agree or disagree with my comments thus far? Let’s converse…

Share
Bible / Theology and Doctrine — No Comments
1
Jun 09

Do You Know What You Believe?

doctrine_bible
Yesterday morning at Sunday school we took time to read through and discuss our denomination’s Doctrinal Statement.  It was a great exercise that brought to mind a number of thoughts and questions.  I encourage you to consider the following:

  • Do I know what I believe about the core issues of my faith such as the nature of God, Jesus, the Gospel, salvation, Scripture, the church, etc.?
  • Do I know what the core issues of my faith are?
  • If asked, would I be able offer an explanation of my core beliefs?
  • Are my core beliefs rooted in Scripture, my own opinion, or the opinions and beliefs of others?
  • Is my list of core beliefs too short?
  • Is my list of core beliefs too long?
  • Do my core beliefs impact the way I think, interact with others, and live my life?
  • Are my core beliefs the same as my church’s, my denomination’s?  Should they be?
  • Over which of my core beliefs, if any, would I consider splitting from other Christian brothers and sisters or my church?
  • Which of my core beliefs are worth dying for?  Which are not?
  • How much time have I spent studying Scripture in order to shape my core Christian beliefs?

I hope to spend the next couple of weeks or months carefully considering many of the above questions and further developing my core beliefs as a Christian.


How much thought or time have you given to your church’s Doctrinal Statement?  Your own core beliefs?

Share
Uncategorized — No Comments
4
Mar 09

Free Access: ESV Online Study Bible

Have you been thinking about shelling out the money for your very own copy of the new and highly anticipated ESV Study Bible? If you haven’t yet taken the plunge, then perhaps you would be interested in checking out the online version. For the month of March, Crossway is offering free access to the ESV Online Study Bible to “anyone and everyone.”

According to the ESV Study Bible Blog, the online version offers a number of interactive freatures allowing users to:

  • Record personal notes, reflections, and links
  • Click hyperlinked cross references
  • Search by verse, topic, or keyword
  • Digitally highlight Bible passages with various colors
  • Listen to audio of passages

See it for yourself here.

Share
Uncategorized — 1 Comment
3
Dec 08

Wordle – Fun Tool for Word Frequency Visualization

Wordleof a FoolishCross.com Blog Post about WordleRepetition and word frequency are important factors to take into consideration when engaging in Bible Study. For example, Paul’s frequent use of the words “joy” and “rejoice” in his letter to the Philippians should not be overlooked or dismissed by the reader. Something important is being communicated. Let me say again, one should pay close attention to repetition and word frequency when studying the Bible. When studying the Bible, let us all consider repetition and word frequency.

Okay, I’m sure you get my, cleverly-stated, point.

Back in the good ol’ days, Bible Thumpers were reduced to counting each word that occurred in a passage by hand. One “joy,” two “joys,” and so on. Of course, today we have handy computer programs and online tools to do the counting for us. One such tool is Wordle. Simply provide text and you are given a word cloud visualization of that text. The Wordle web site explains that it is “a toy for generating ‘word clouds’ from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.”

Of course, Wordle certainly isn’t useful for Bible study and teaching purposes only. In addition to being able to copy-and-paste in text, you may also provide the URL for any blog, feed or web page that has an Atom or RSS feed. This makes Wordle a useful tool for bloggers as well. Create a word cloud for your own blog or use Wordle to compare and contrast the words and themes that occur in multiple blogs or web sites.

Below are three Wordle word clouds I made for Genesis 1, 2, and 3 (click each for a larger image). You may have also noticed that the word cloud above was made for this blog post.


Genesis 1
Wordle - Genesis 1

Genesis 2
Wordle - Genesis 2

Genesis 3
Wordle - Genesis 3

Do you use Wordle? How else do you make use of this tool? Chime in and comment!

Share
Uncategorized — No Comments
20
Jun 08

The Demons Believe – Part I

But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith from my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe─and they shudder.

James 2:18-19

The above passage from Scripture is absolutely fascinating to me. So many Biblical truths can be found in these words from the second chapter of this letter from James. I would like to dwell here for my next few posts in order to explore many of these truths…

My first observation as I read this passage is that the demons believe in God. I repeat this statement over and over again in my head and it sounds more and more ridiculous each time. The demons also believe.

Christians talk a lot about believing. “Believe in Jesus and you will be saved!” There seems to be a lot of confusion, however, over the meaning of the word believe. I know this from my own experience. You see, before I became a Christian, I believed in God. Not only that, but I also believed in Jesus, that he was crucified, and finally, that he rose again on the third day. When I began to read the Bible, however, I was deeply upset by this verse. THE DEMONS ALSO BELIEVE! I struggled to separate my belief from the belief of the demons. The conclusion at which I arrived was troubling: there wasn’t a difference.

‘Believe’ can take on two very different meanings. First, it can refer to a head knowledge. The demons know that God exists. They know that there is but one God. They believe. It was in this same way that I once believed in God. I knew that he existed, that he had a Son, that his Son died for my sins and rose again. This, however, was the extent of my belief.

‘Believe’ can also refer to a trust that results in action. For example, as I sit in a chair, I believe that it will bear my weight. This belief isn’t merely head knowledge. I actually sit in the chair. Further, when I sit in the chair I put in it my full body weight. Belief in the chair plays out in my actions. The knowledge that the chair will hold me up is secondary to the placement of trust in the chair as I lower all of my weight onto it.

The demons subscribe to the first definition of belief. They know that there is one God─and they shudder. They do not place their trust in God. Appropriate action does not follow their belief. In order that I might be rescued from my sins and have eternal life, I must first believe and place my trust in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross. That is, I must place my life in the hands of my Savior. Practically speaking, this takes the form of repentance, or the asking for forgiveness and turning away from my sins, as well as trusting that Jesus’ death on the cross has paid completely for all my sins. A legal transaction has taken place and because of His crucifixion I will be found innocent on the Day of Judgment and avoid an eternal sentence of destruction.

I beg you to ponder this passage of Scripture and consider whether or not you truly believe in Jesus. Trust in Him like you trust the chair in which you sit.

Share
Uncategorized — No Comments
16
Apr 08

I Hear Bibles

My wife and I have been attending the small neighborhood church we now call home for around five months. As I recall our first visit to this church and consider the many reasons we returned for a second and third Sunday, there is one which stands out from the rest. That reason: the sounds. Two sounds to be exact.

The first followed the conclusion of singing and worship. The praise team left the stage and returned to their seats. Then, I heard it – an electric motor, raising the projector screen out of site. The pastor assumed his position at the front of the congregation and began his sermon. The second sound naturally follows the first – pages turning.

You see, in my past church experiences, the projector screen has always remained down while the teacher delivers the message. Church-goers fix their gazes upon the screen as relevant Bible verses appear (at times these passages change so quickly that even the most Scripture-savvy Christians struggle to keep up in their own Bibles). The Bibles carried into the church often leave the church at the end of the service having never been opened. The verses were right there on the screen…

I am concerned that the LCD projector has helped usher into our churches an era of complacency (and perhaps, ignorance). I am concerned that the projector has ceased to be a helpful tool and has become a crutch. Bible verses projected onto a screen have negated the need to navigate one’s Bible every Sunday in order to follow along with the sermon. Passivity replaces activity. Bible knowledge suffers.

The projector and screen aren’t at fault. They are just doing their jobs. Admittedly, projected verses do allow those with limited Bible knowledge to follow along without frustration. Still, how can one expect a new Christian with limited Bible knowledge to become more knowledgeable without actually navigating the Bible? The problem, in my opinion, is not the projector, but rather, its overuse.

I still smile every Sunday when I hear that screen rise. As I stated before, a second sound always follows – pages turning. That is music to my ears.

Agree? Disagree? I’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Share
buy bupropion online order cialis soft tabs

Switch to our mobile site