READ: II Timothy 3:16

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

Yes he did… at least you believe he did.

But WHY do you believe what you believe? Why do you believe that George Washington was the first president of the U.S., that Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel, or that Julius Caesar once ruled the Roman Empire? Do you doubt any of these things?

Probably not. Every day we take things like this for granted, but the truth is, we all lean heavily on a system we each have for judging what is real and what is not, what is a reliable source of truth and what is not. While I was in college, it was pretty popular (it still is, I’m sure) to challenge the reliability of the Bible. I guess when a book is the greatest best seller of all human history, and it says such controversial and challenging things as all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me it’s no surprise that people want to challenge its authority. After all, if the Bible is legit, then that has some serious implications on how we see and live out our lives.

The funny thing is, growing up, our church (and just about every church in this country) never really addressed those challenges. That’s not to say that we didn’t agree that it was important to defend our faith. But we never knew how our faith was defendable. It is.

We can start by addressing that big question of is the Bible reliable.

There’s a whole field of study that defends the authenticity and reliability of the Bible that sits on your coffee table. There are men and women who have dedicated their lives to that defense. Did you know that? It’s called Biblical Text Criticism, and it’s the responsibility of every Bible-believing Christian living in a post-modern culture to learn the basics of how it works.

Trust me. When you do, your faith and your PASSION for the words God wants to communicate to you are going to grow in a big, big way.

This week, read the blog post entitled Is the Bible Reliable posted on the Wells Branch Community Church website. Pray that God gives you an open heart and mind to the information it presents. And if you feel your heart moved (maybe you feel yourself letting out a sigh of relief), pray and thank God for the miraculous book you hold in your hands.

Looking for a song this week? Check out “The Gospel” by Jimmy Needham, and know that this Gospel has been preserved in God’s word for all of us across these millennia so that we may BELIEVE!