Poster Archive : SEPTEMBER 2009
Message: Too brainwashed to read the Bible?
Bible verse: Acts 17:11 "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.".
How would you spot a Christian in a crowd? By the tan skivvy they wear? The Jesus sandals and the long hair? Maybe the guy on the corner thumping a Bible? Maybe they're easier to spot in the movies. You've seen them - the geek with the horn-rimmed glasses, the red-faced preacher up in the pulpit or maybe the sheepish girl, who says no to everything.
Look around you. Do they really exist? Or are these images just cardboard cutouts?
Christians come from all walks of life from corporate executives and mathematicians to teachers, judges, plumbers and molecular scientists. In fact, Christianity is growing worldwide, but you wouldn't know it. Read the media and popular books, and allegedly God is losing the popularity stakes.
Documentaries trumpet 'startling new revelations' that apparently undo everything written in the Bible. Unfortunately all these 'revelations' don't fit together. They contradict. Which means they can't all be true at the same time. But this doesn't seem to bother the TV networks.
Richard Dawkin's book, 'The God Delusion' has been trumpeted as the final nail in the Christian coffin. It's a powerful challenge to Christians - but Christians have answers to these challenges. Surely, fairness dictates looking at these? (see www.thatposter.org/resources.php for more details).
Christianity is the most researched and controversial religion in the world - and for a good reason. It promises eternal life with God through Jesus. It also promises judgment and accountability to God for those who reject Jesus.
So, who's forming your opinions? Whose opinions do you hold? In today's complex world, we have to rely on any number of experts, doctors, lawyers, scientists and so on. It's simply impossible to be expert in all matters.
But Jesus is a man whose life is so extraordinary and his demands so total, that it's critical for everyone to be expert on his life and words. You can find them recorded in the Bible.
In this same Bible you can read how the Christian leader, Paul of Tarsus, brought news of Jesus to a little town called Berea in Greece:
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
So, investigate Jesus for yourself. Don't rely on the opinions of others.
Prayer: Dear God, please help me to fairly consider the claims of Jesus. AMEN.