Letter from the Editor

Recently, the Republican running to be his party's presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, was criticized for being a Mormon.  I understand, anyone seeking that high office will have adversaries who will bring up anything they can to discredit a candidate and sway public opinion against him so their candidate can win.  However, when it comes to using religion, I think we should need to refocus ourselves.

I am not Mormon and believe the Mormon faith has some foundational errors.  However, belonging to that faith or any other faith should not be the pigeon-hole we place candidates.  As believers in Christ, we need to examine a candidate's character.  We need to determine the candidate's philosophy on key principles, such as abortion; his probable direction on current issues, such as the war, the economy and unemployment.

Once we research these things, we need to compare what we find against the Bible.  Those candidates who are closest to Biblical principles should have the edge for our votes, regardless of their published faith. 

Reader's Question

"Since B.C. means 'Before Christ' and A.D. means 'After Death', what time designation is there for the years Christ was alive?

Actually, A.D. does NOT mean "After Death".  It stands for Latin "Anno Domini" and is translated "The Year of Our Lord".  So, Jesus' first year alive would be 1 A.D.  And, so on.

A note, however.  The scheme does not have a "0".  Therefore, 1 B.C.  is followed by 1 A.D.

Featured Article (Larry Massa)

Is There Really an Error in the Bible

I do not believe there are any errors in the Bible.  But one "contradiction" bothered me for some time.  It was something Stephen said in the seventh chapter in the book of Acts.

"And Jacob went down into Egypt, where he himself died, as did our forefathers; and their bodies were taken back to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of silver money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem." (Acts 7: 15, 16 Amp Bible). 

Reviewing a little of the Old Testament, recall Abraham was the patriarch whom God chose to be the father of the Israelites.  He had a son Isaac, who had two sons, Jacob and Esau.  The Israelite line came through Jacob, who had twelve sons, who were the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel.

The "dilemma" is the Bible states "So Abraham listened to what Ephron said and acted upon it.  He weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, 400 shekels of silver according to the weights current among merchants. So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it and all the trees that were in the field, and all the borders roundabout were made over as a possession to Abraham, in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at his city gate."  (Gen 23:16-18 Amp Bible).

Also, "When Jacob came from Paddanaram he arrived safely and in peace at the town of Shechem, in the land of Canaan, and pitched his tents before the town.  Then he bought the piece of land on which he had encamped, from the son of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money."

And finally, "And the bones of Joseph, which the Israelites brought up out of Egypt, they buried in Shechem, in the portion of ground Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor father of Shechem for 100 pieces of money; and it became an inheritance of the Josephites." (Joshua 24: 32 Amp Bible).

Clearly, although Abraham did purchase land and a cave from Ephron, he did not purchase anything from the sons of Hamor.  So, does this mean there is an error in the Bible? NOT AT ALL.

A question came to me some time ago (I'm sure by way of the Holy Spirit) that sounds rhetorical, but is far from being.  Which constitutes an error in the Bible; a writer inspired by God to perfectly record a not inspired speakers dialogue ( though that dialogue is in error) or a writer inspired by God to change what a not inspired speaker's dialogue is, so there is no error in the dialogue?

Obviously, the error is the latter.

The writer of the Book of Acts is most probably Luke, the author of the Gospel of Luke.  He was a medical doctor, Greek and the only Gentile author of a New Testament work.  He was very detailed in his accounts of events and his intent was to accurately report what happened to the Apostles after Jesus ascended into heaven.

Stephen, on the other hand was a new Christian.  Granted, he was "full of grace - divine blessing and favor - worked great wonders and signs among the people" (Acts 6:8 Amp Bible).  But he was not an Apostle and he was not an inspired writer of any Biblical work.

He was brought before the high priest who asked him to defend charges brought against him (speaking against God and Moses).  His response is a long recap of early Jewish history.  It is understandable he was trying to show he did know about what God did for Moses and the Israelites.  It is also understandable that either under this intense pressure he made a mistake about Abraham buying a field from the sons of Hamor or wanted to add emphasis by throwing out the name of Abraham.

The bottom line, though, is Stephen was defending himself, NOT writing Scripture.  Luke, however, was inspired and was writing Scripture.  He had to write correctly what Stephen incorrectly said.  If not, someone who read Luke's account, but also heard what Stephen said would know Luke's writing was in error.  God would not allow that.

So, Acts 7: 15, 16 is not a contradiction.  It is merely a perfect record of a contradiction Stephen made.

Feeding Your Spirit (Contributed by Sheila Wells Hughes)

Recognize and Remember
 
Our spiritual maturity is measured
By how readily we respond to God;
Whether we'll give Him undivided attention,
Or get correction from His disciplining rod.
 
God intervenes on behalf of mankind
In order to make His presence known,
Undeniably He moves quite mysteriously
In the hope His precious Word is sown.
 
He wants us to recognize and remember
Who He is, and what he has done.
We must never forget that to save us
He had to sacrifice His only son.
 
For sure, He is the one and only God;
His creation cannot make that claim.
Graciously, patiently, lovingly he waits
To remove from us this deathly stain.
 
God now chooses you to be His light;
To spread his Good News all around.
Represent Him in a way that's true,
So many more lost children can be found.
 

Devotions (Contributed by Sheila Wells Hughes)

Whenever we lose sight of God's involvement in our daily lives, we become guilty of
playing God.  We expect all the credit for doing things, and leave out God. We think we don't need Him; we can do it all by ourselves. 

When we do this, either we have not had a genuine encounter with the real God, or we recognized Him as God in the past, but just strayed from Him. 

In early history, God chose the Israelites to make His presence known to the rest of the world.  He performed many miracles for them to see.  But after a while,  they became unfaithful to Him and forgot about all He had done for them.  They focused on themselves,  disobeyed Him and worshipped idols.  So, in New Testament times, God transferred the responsibility of being a light to the nations
from Israel to the church and to individual believers.  Today, that is still true; we are to be the light of
the world.  We have been  chosen by God to take his Word to all the nations. 

When we recognize God's involvement in our lives, our attention is on Him.  That will result in our authentic worship, obedience, and worldly image . 

 If we fail to remember His grace, then we will return to our old selfish and disobedient ways and take credit for what God has been able to accomplish through us.  Our light will be extinguished.

So, don't forget who really is God.  Remember Him gratefully, with both your worship and your obedience.  Be the light to the world God wants you to be.

Tips for Healthy Mental Living (Rob Chvatal)

 Taking Captive Every Thought

³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

 ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

                2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV)

God has been doing an  amazing work in me these past few years "demolishing strongholds." 

In Ephesians 6, Paul describes further the weapons God has provided "so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."  (The Armor of God, Ephesians 6:10-17)   The enemy is constantly looking for ways to use fear, shame, desire, etc. to steer me (and maybe you) away from the path God has for me to advance his Kingdom.  Paul explains that God has provided us protection against these schemes. 

One of the ways God has taught me to "put on" His armor, is by taking every thought captive and testing it against the truth of God's Word - to make me obedient to Christ.  This is critical to me in times like the following:

When lustful desires arises in a moment of loneliness, OR

When I think and feel that I have been wronged by someone, OR

When I have a financial decision to make and I am worried \ anxious about next month's bills, OR

When I have an opportunity to serve in some way that is out of my normal comfort zone and I have doubt about how it will make me look.

For me, my Christian walk, and the life transformation that comes with it, has been directly dependent on my moment to moment obedience to God.  In that moment, faced with an opportunity to choose, and a series of thoughts and feelings that want to direct my choice - I have to be mindful, focused, motivated, etc. to choose to believe God (having faith in his promises) over the lies and fear offered by the enemy.  God assures me the victory in such circumstances, but I do have to make the choice to rely on His power.

The following steps have been helpful to me in making these moment to moment choices victoriously:

1)      I acknowledge and accept the battle is real and is in my mind;

2)      I understand (some of) the subtle tricks the enemy uses to distract and tempt me;

3)      I believe God has given me everything I need to win each battle - and I accept that I have to understand and use what he had given me (like his Word - if I don't know it, I can't use it);

4)      I work to make it a constant habit to be aware of what is going on in my mind - especially when I feel fearful in some way (this took some getting used to);

5)      I work to rely on God to provide what I need, in His time - especially things like the patience, strength and wisdom required to overcome that which I know I cannot overcome myself; and

6)      I work to keep my eye, and thoughts, on the prize of eternal life to see me through the toughest of worldly challenges.

God is doing amazing work inside me - reducing lust, worry, resentment, self-reliance, and impatience. Yup ... huge strongholds and even bigger blessings as I am freed from their bondage.  For me, the ground has been taken through the power supplied by Jesus Christ, one battle, one thought at a time.  

What are your strongholds?  How are you using the power given to you to let Jesus help you demolish them?

Series

Larry Massa is the author of Catacombs.  It is a mystery-treasure hunt along the lines of the recent National Treasure movie series where the answer to one puzzle leads to another.  The reader is propelled through a maze of mental and physical catacombs toward an electrifying answer.  This month Mr. Massa is providing chapter thirteen free, but it is available in its entirety on this site's Order Books/Prior Months tab or www.catacombsthebook.com.

Chapter Thirteen

Justus and Michal ambled back to the oasis where they had shared the meat from Justus' pouch. Directly above them, large puffy clouds occasionally floated in front of the sun, causing shadows to move over the pair. They had spent the morning combing the beach for any survivors from the wrecked ship but had found none. They had also sifted through some of the debris, but the only things they found of any use were a couple of flasks.

The sun was directly overhead marking it the sixth hour, noon, as Michal mounted the same rock where she earlier sat eating breakfast. The wind was much calmer than during the morning, but the heavy salt smell from the sea was in every breath. "Do you think we should continue to look for people on the beach?" she asked.

Justus squatted to fill the two flasks. He shrugged. "I don't think so. We've been up and down it all morning. I think the figurehead carried us pretty far from the wreckage."

Michal drew her feet up, wrapped her arms around her knees, and put her chin on them. "I'm glad we found no dead bodies."

Justus shot her a concerned glance as the clear oasis water gurgled into the flasks. "Yeah...me, too."

Michal looked inquisitive. "Since we don't know where we are, which direction do we walk to try and find civilization?"

Although unable to see far from his position on the sand, he glanced around, then nodded down the beach. "The wind first started blowing hard shortly after we left Cyprus. It was blowing somewhat north then, so I guess we should walk south and close to the shoreline. I think it more likely we find a village along the coast than just wandering out across the land."

Michal looked dismayed. "Looks like you may not be able to save your friend. Is he a Roman or Jew?"

Justus cast a glance at her, taken aback by her bringing up the topic. "He's a Jew."

"What's his name?"

He tugged on the jugs to gauge his progress. "Jesus. He's a childhood friend." Determining they were filled, he set the flasks on the ground near Michal and stared across the sea beyond the pounding surf. "He's totally unique.  I thoroughly enjoyed doing things with him and his family." He turned to Michal. "Actually, he was a little more than a year older than me. His brother James and I were the same age and probably closer friends. But, Jesus was special. He understood me sometimes better than I understood myself."

Justus became transfixed, wonder in his voice. "He could pick up on the way I was feeling and say something that would invariably make me feel better. And his understanding of the Scriptures...next to none. It was unbelievable."

Michal raised her head and extended her hand. "How did you become such good friends?"

Her question brought his thoughts to the present. He smiled. "Remember? On the ship I said my family was not accepted very well by most Jews in Nazareth?"

"Yes."

"The family of Joseph, the carpenter, was the exception. They were very caring and visited us frequently."

Michal looked intrigued. "Why did they befriend your family when others didn't?"

"I think they accepted us, because they had their own problems with the Jews at Nazareth."

"Really? What were their problems?"

The question caused Justus to stop for a moment. The innuendos rang in his head as loudly as they had twenty years before. He swallowed hard, as he remembered the Jewish punishment for intimacy outside of marriage was death by stoning. "There was talk his mother, Mary, had conceived Jesus before she married Joseph and that Joseph might not be his father."

Michal sat in stunned silence and shook her head in disbelief. "Was he?"

"I don't know. I never really talked to Jesus about it. However, my mother told me that during the census of Caesar Augustus, Joseph decided to take Mary with him to Bethlehem to be registered, even though she was almost ready to give birth to Jesus. He was afraid she would be stoned to death if he left her alone in Nazareth." He stepped close to the rock Michal rested on. "In fact, Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem."

Michal remained quiet for a few moments, as she ran her hand over the boulder's rough exterior.  Her profile showed comprehension.  "So you and Jesus grew up together?"

"Jesus, James, and I were often together until my father was promoted to tribune and called back to Rome."

"How old were you then?"

"Fifteen."

Michal shifted her position, totally caught up by the story. "You said earlier you were going to save Jesus from himself. Is he trying to commit suicide?"

Justus gazed at Michal, her hair fluttering in the light breeze. He felt a deep attraction for her. "Not long ago I received a letter from Mary. She said Jesus has been traveling about Galilee and Judea urging people to repent of their worldly lives, and teaching people what the Scriptures really mean."

Michal blinked, her voice hesitant. "What's so bad about that?"

"When he was twelve years old, Mary and Joseph lost Jesus in Jerusalem for three days. They finally found him in the Temple, surrounded by chief priests who were astounded at his knowledge. Unfortunately, their amazement eventually turned into jealousy." Justus focused on her.  "Now that Jesus has a group of followers, the chief priests have become even more jealous. It's gotten to the point that Jesus now disputes their teachings and criticizes them harshly in front of large crowds."

Listening closely, she waited for him to go on. "Such as ..."

Justus stared at the sky as he tried to remember Mary's entire letter. "Once, he described a number of the priests as a tomb: whitewashed on the outside to look good but filled with filthy dead men bones inside."

"Ouch. I see what she means. He does need to tone things down." Palms up, Michal shrugged. "But...what can you do to help?"

Eyeing Michal, Justus paused a moment, his jaw set. After years of successfully defending innocent people, he could quickly get to the core of complex issues. "Mary is hoping I will be able to reason with him because of our close relationship."

"Do you think you can?"

Justus took a deep breath and expelled it in a long, low sigh. "No, Michal. You have to know him. When it comes to teaching the Scriptures, he has this ability to explain what they mean with...with...I don't know...authority. It's almost like he wrote them." He took two steps away and looked at the sea. "Added to that, he has always been impatient with people who pretend to be pious and better than everyone else. I think those parts of his personality are impossible to change."

He bent to pick up the flasks, but straightened instead. "Because of our friendship, though, I have to try to convince him to stop infuriating the priests and Pharisees."

Michal rose and stretched as she considered his story. She cocked her head. "Is he married?"

"No. I don't think he ever will."

"Why not?"

Justus' mother had drilled into him many subtleties of the Jewish faith as he was growing up. The memory caused him to hear her words again. "He is deeply involved in religion...and remember, Jews highly value the virtue of virginity. Moral purity is easier for a virgin."

Michal looked sheepish. "Something we Hellenists don't often think about."

Justus laughed and corralled the water flasks, glad Michal had quickly turned him from painful memories. "We had better start walking. Who knows how long it will take us to find civilization."

He moved ahead a short distance before Michal got up from the rock. Two seagulls landed in front of him and pattered on the sand. They kept the distance between Justus and themselves constant, although they weaved back and forth, warbling.

When Michal caught up to him, the gulls flew off piping loudly. She asked, "How can you find Jesus?"

"I was certain he would be at the Feast of the Booths. Since it's a seven-day event, my plan was to search until I found him. However, here we are and the festival is half over. So, I guess I need to develop a new plan."

Michal matched his pace. She scratched the back of her head. "I'm sure you will." She stopped a step, then continued, "Hey...what about Hanukkah? It's only a few months away."

Justus slanted a glance at her. "That's a good idea. He'll likely be in Jerusalem for it. Maybe I'll get lucky...that is if we don't die out here."

Michal snagged his arm and tugged. She acted like she was poring over a baby, her voice sounding like she was talking to one. "I'll save you."

"How? Outrun a horse and catch him for a ride?"

She shoved Justus away, laughed, and took off. "Never underestimate a woman ... especially a Greek runner," she called. The two sprinted a short way along the coastline.

Justus held the flasks away from his body to facilitate speed, but Michal easily outdistanced him, then suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks

Justus loped up beside her, saw the chagrin on her face and followed her gaze.

Pointing, Michal asked, "Is that dust rising from the desert?"