Dontcha just love the timeliness and eternal relevance of God’s word?
‘Before Abraham was, I am.”
Pilate: ‘what is truth?’
And God said, ‘let there be light, and there was light.’
(He made the stars also)
‘The Lord was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light.’
And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.’
‘All things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.‘
‘The entrance of thy word giveth light.’
‘All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower thereof falls away, But the word of God endures forever.’
‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.’
‘Being filled with all unrighteousness, without understanding, deceit, haters of God, proud.
‘These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaking great swelling words.’
‘The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.’
‘Let not your heart be troubled.’
‘With their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips, there is no fear of God before their eyes.’
‘Shun profane and vain babblings.’
We are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.’
‘Many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.’
‘Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.’
‘Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’
And every man went to his own house. Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
The Lord hath laid on Him, the iniquity of us all
The Lions Den 
ColorStorm..yes…It’s absolutely the best thing ever inspired and put to paper. Endless, timeless…may I add inspired, infallible, and all we need for faith and practice?
I would like to say that I can’t understand how so many dismiss it, mock it and ridicule it. They say it’s just literature; it’s all myth and fable, and besides the oggity boogity guy in it was a jerk anyway. Science, history and archeology disprove the whole thing; its nonsensical rubbish. I’d like to say that…but I can’t, because I understand it perfectly. I wasn’t but a few short years ago that if someone asked me my thoughts on “God’s Word (insert hysterical laughter here)” I would have said: all prose, myth and fable, God is mean, hateful and unfair anyway…don’t you boneheads understand that science, history and archeology have prove it all false? Then the personal attacks on the person asking the question would have begun.
What happened? Well, it’s quite simple really. Of course I knew God existed…that’s why I was so angry about it.
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”.
I knew in my heart of hearts it was real, all along.
Like all mockers, I just wanted to be my own man…nobody was gonna tell ME what to do or how to do it…not even oggity boogity by gosh.
But one day…after somebody very persistent and loving finally got me into a place where God’s Word was preached, things changed. I understood my condition, what I deserved for it, and the awesome truth that I didn’t have to get what I had coming to me.
Literally and instantly in that very nanosecond, my thoughts towards what God had put in His Book changed. I still had no clue what was in it..had never owned a Bible before actually. But the change in my heart told me that it was real, and that I better start checking it out. Not only did I check it out, but it suddenly made sense.
“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
One day, I read that…and I understood what had happened.
So..this is an open comment to a lot of people..you know who you are. You ask if it’s faith..yep it sure is, backed by some darn good evidence. But if you really want all of your Bible questions..step out in faith, and God will answer them all..over time.
Plain old Scripture: timeless, eternal, just awesome all in all.
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Wally, you may want to convert this testimony to a post.
Tkx for all the detail, and the time brother.
(literally and instantly, twinkling of an eye kinda thing eh 😉
All true, all good, and glory to God-
I’m liking plain ‘ol too.
bless ya
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ColorStorm
I have considered doing that…may someday. Thanks for your input and yet another awesome post.
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I suggest you heed your own quotation, CS, and ‘Shun profane and vain babblings.’
I see you chose not to allow my evidence re John to become public knowledge – clearly a move motivated by fear! And both quotations were from biblical websites! I can’t wait to get you on another site, one whose information you don’t control —
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If people want to visit sites that criticize, mock, or malign the scriptures, have at it. I will not help you. I make no apologies for refusing to debate the merits of scripture.
But you however, press an issue which is mind boggling, for you believe none of it, and want answers from all of it, as you ‘try to prove’ the defects in God and his word, while you deny the defects of your own heart.
‘Shun (means to avoid) profane and vain babblings.’ Please send your illegitimate links of doubt and unbelief elsewhere.
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arch-
Your recent attempts re. John 8, Mark 16 etc. insinuations have no place. Those tales are old as the hills, and you may as well try to sink a submarine with a pea shooter.
A person tells you the bible is a fairy tale. He says you are a lunatic if you believe ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.’ He thinks you are insane if you actually believe there was confusing of languages in Babel, he tells you Abraham never existed, he tells you Sodom was not a real city, and he tells you sin is a fabrication. He then tells you the death of the son of God was a joke. He informs you that the ‘faith once delivered to the saints’ is a deluded hope. He tells you men of higher learning have found errors with scripture.
He then finishes by informing you there are mistakes in what he calls the book of myths, and pleads with you to answer his endless charges.–from Higher education
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My Bible, the 2007 TNIV, says ‘The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11’ and ‘the earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9-20’.
I was wondering if these were the matters that archaeopteryx1 was referring to?
It is a matter of fact that these were very late additions to the text. If we are to have faith in the Bible what text should we have faith in? Many people look to the King James version, but that was based on the Greek translation of a 12th century Byzantine text, not the older more reliable manuscripts now used.
It is a matter of fact, upon which there is no dispute among scholars, that there are differences between the various manuscripts available to Biblical Scholars.
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Hey Peter-
May I simply correct your observation. You said: ‘My bible, the 2007 TNIV says “the earliest manuscripts….’
Sorry, but ‘no bible’ says this. What do I mean? There is no commentary in the word of God. It is 100 per cent text. People make the mistake of giving equal merit to the notes, as if ‘they’ are inspired. Even the very best of commentaries are not inspired.
This is why conversations on textual criticism go nowhere and are endless speculations. As a perfect example how sidetracks are enjoyed, you commented on a post that included ‘God’s word,’ yet your remark here had nothing to do with the scriptures in the post. It’s not a criticism, just pointing out the uselessness of vain debate.
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Hi ColorStorm thanks for responding.
D.A. Carson in his commentary on John’s Gospel notes that John 7:53 to 8:11 was not found in any Eastern text of the Bible before the tenth century. It is missing from all the early reliable manuscripts of the Bible. All the early church father omit it. Where it is included in ancient texts there is usually a note included questioning its authenticity.
God does indeed work in mysterious ways!
You might not agree with Carson, but he is one of the most respected Christian evangelical scholars in the world. He holds a high view of Scripture treating it with reverence as being God’s Word.
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Hey Peter, a question for you. ColorStorm sorry for piling in but I am just curious and Peter is someone I have not encountered before. Maybe I can get an answer.
Ok…let’s just say those verses you are tossing around really don’t belong. Not saying they don’t, but hey…let’s pretend anyway. I’m not a textual critic, and neither are you. You do seem to be a really good cutter and paster though. I mean no offense, but as I said, I’m pretty sure you are not a qualified textual critic.
Anyway, back to my question, I lost track of myself there. Let’s toss that section out.
Even without that, did the message change? Even without almost all the passages debated by the early versus later manuscript advocates, did the message change. Nope, nope and more nope.
The message of the sinful condition of mankind and our need for a savior remain, no matter what you use as the source, Period, end of story…not subject to dispute. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The wages for that is…death. Penalty, for our sin…death. Physical and spiritual. Eternal separation from a Holy and perfect God. Ahhhhhh…but it can all be good. God Himself paid the penalty…here on earth incarnate as Jesus Christ. All man, because man had to pay. All God, because only God could pay.
It’s available to you my friend. Repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and its yours. And guess what? ………………………It’s in ALL the manuscripts!! Quit worrying about 12 verses that don’t change the message one iota…and worry about what matters.
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Hi Wally
I do not claim to be an expert, that is why I rely on others who are experts such as Don Carson.
I agree I am a sinner and have no righteousness of my own. The matter I am struggling with is to come to grips with is whether God is really there at all.
I have been involved with Church’s all my life. I have had leadership roles. I have had numerous people see in the Spirit a great ministry for me. I have felt the the Spirit move. I have regularly preached in churches. I lead Bible studies. I have understand post graduate studies in Christianity and the Bible, achieving distinction level results. I have had many experiences that I attributed to God, including instantaneous answers to prayer. I have had overseas missionaries contact me and explain how my actions have answered their prayers in an extraordinary way, how much my faith and witness has encouraged them. I could go on, what I am trying to say is not i have not been a pew warmer. I have sought to love and obey God.
But suddenly I question whether I was mistaken. It is as though scales have been removed from my eyes!
I have been looking at the basic foundations of faith as:
– The Bible (its integrity);
– The Church (its witness);
– Christians (their lives);
– evidence from history for the claims of the Bible;
– The viability of an non theistic world view;
– subjective Christian experience.
Of these six foundations it is the subjective Christian experience that I have found most challenging to explain. But I am now starting to understand more about the complexities of the mind such that I am almost ready to cross off that last objection. I have only been working through these issues over the last two months. But subsequent events don’t encourage me to maintain faith,
As an example I was acting at Spiritual Adviser at a Christian retreat last month. I did not disclose to the people my own inner turmoil. The people on the retreat commented how much I had helped them in their faith and what a wonderful witness and encouragement to them my leadership had been. Then a person came up top me and said that as I spoke they had been revealed some matters ‘in the spirit’. I though ‘at last, God understands, God will have a word for me’. But alas, this person saw the how God was using me for ministry and the like and the wonderful plans God had for me. It just reinforced my views on so many of these spiritual insights, people think with a genuine and loving heart that they are hearing from the Holy Spirit, but indeed it seems they are actually hearing from their own mind.
I know that belief is based on faith not on evidence. But why is God making it so hard?
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Peter that is a very fair and reasonable question that you asked. your story is fascinating. You obviously aren’t here just to attack. Sorry if I treated you that way. I don’t have an instant answer. Hang around here or come visit me even And maybe you can find an answer
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Peter, I have a couple of links for you that I will post on (EDIT) blog, where I know you’ll get them.
EDIT: I do not give shelf life to links that assault scripture as written in the comment policy. Some people desire to take faith from others, and I make no apology for refusing to aid and abet in the thievery.
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That’s OK – he got the message —
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“Dontcha just love the timeliness and eternal relevance of God’s word?”
I do love it. Pretty amazing, isn’t it? 2 Corinthians 10:5 could have been written this morning.
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Thank you for this, indeed perfect.
Amazed yes, but not surprising huh. God is always light years ahead 😉
.
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