How do we Know what we Believe is True? 2

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* Evidence from fulfilled prophecies
* Science Speaks: proof using probability
* Good resource: The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell
* Bible is the inspired Word of God and trustworthy in all matters of belief and practice

Yesterday we proposed the Bible as the unchanging reference point, which is proven to be historically and scientifically accurate. But how do you go from that to proving it to be from God and trustworthy in spiritual things? You need to cross over from looking at the natural to examining the supernatural. You go from looking at the past to looking into the future. Man is subject to limitations of time and space, and no one can know the future with 100% accuracy. Some have been astute observers of trends and circumstances and can make educated guesses as to what is most likely to happen. But such conjectures are limited to the near-term, and at best they achieve a higher probability than random speculations. None can know the distant future, in minute detail, with absolute certainty, except God. In fact, that’s exactly the challenge God Himself throw out to so-called gods:

Isa 41:22-3 Bring in your idols to tell us what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come, tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear.

If you compare the Bible to other sacred writings e.g. the Koran, Book of Mormon etc., the latter do not contain specific, fulfilled prophecies. In contrast, the Bible contained numerous detailed prophecies. The actual count varied amongst different studies, depending on whether parallel passages on the same event are counted as one or multiple prophecies, or whether one event containing several elements are treated as a single prophecy or several prophecies. One source, the Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy by J. Barton Payne (Eerdmans), listed 1,239 prophecies in the Old Testament and 578 in the New, for a total of 1,817 prophecies comprising 8,352 verses. Another source, Dr. Hugh Ross of Reasons to Believe, cited “Approximately 2500 prophecies appear in the pages of the Bible, about 2000 of which already have been fulfilled to the letter—no errors. The remaining 500 or so reach into the future and may be seen unfolding as days go by.”

Given the amazing accuracy of the Bible, skeptics charged that the books of the Bible were written subsequent to the events, after the fact, so that they were in fact “history” but not “prophecy”. This argument is not valid as the dates the Bible books were written have been established by conservative scholarship, and discoveries like the Dead Sea Scrolls proved that the OT manuscripts existed long before the prophecies they contained were fulfilled.

Mathematicians have also selected samples of a small number of predicted events and computed the odds that these have been fulfilled by chance. One example involved 13 separate and independent prophecies
(see http://www.reasons.org/articles/articles/fulfilled-prophecy-evidence-for-the-reliability-of-the-bible),
and the probability of chance occurrence is calculated to be 1 in 10 to the 138th power! Just to give you a feel how small this chance is, the current estimate for the number of electrons in the known universe is only 10 to the 88th power. If you mark one of these electrons, mix it thoroughly with all other electrons, blindfold a person and ask him to pick out the marked electron by chance, he will have a higher chance of randomly picking up the marked electron on first try, 10 to the 50th power times higher in fact, than accurately predicting only 13 events out of sheer luck. What about accurately calling the other 1987 prophecies already fulfilled? The logical conclusion is that the Bible is no ordinary book, but the inspired Word of God as it claimed to be.

Once you have established that the Bible is inspired and true, you have the unchanging reference point that can guide you in matters of life and faith. Hope this helps.

For those interested in reading more examples, try Dr. David Reagan’s citation of Peter Stoner’s analysis in Science Speaks:
http://www.worldviewweekend.com/worldview-times/article.php?articleid=5980

How do We Know what we Believe is True? 1

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* Knowledge true?
* North Star as cardinal reference
* Bible as unchanging standard
* Evidence to test
* Extra-biblical and archeological support
* Scientifically accurate

Q. I have a question about faith. How do we know what we believe is the truth? I mean, it’s so subjective. People have different beliefs, and they all claim to be true. How do I know I have not believed something wrong?

A. You have asked a question on epistemology, a branch of philosophy involving the study of knowledge and its validity. But let me try to simplify it by using analogies in layman terms.

Suppose you were a sailor caught in a storm in the middle of the ocean. You lost your compass in the storm and everywhere you look you see only the sea with no land in sight. How do you know which way to go back to land? As any seaman should know, you look for the North Star in the night sky to know which direction is north, then you steer your boat in the direction that will bring you home, even though you cannot see land for now. What you need is an unchanging reference point that can set you on the right path. In the same way, we need an unchanging reference point with which we can measure whether something is true or not. Let me suggest to you that reference point is God and His word, the Bible.

This begs the question “How do I know the Bible is true?” Let me use another analogy. Suppose you were a detective assigned to a murder case. You arrived at the crime scene. All the suspects claimed that they are innocent. How would you go about the investigation to solve the case? You begin by looking for evidences that will give you clues as to “who, what, when, where, how and why”. Similarly, all religions claim the teachings in their holy books are true. So you start by examining whether there is evidence that backs up their claims, how strong or substantial is the evidence, and whether the teachings themselves are logical, consistent and reasonable given all that we know.

For example, some holy writings contain narratives of historical events and persons, with references to culture, customs and places. Are these descriptions corroborated by known history and archeology? Or they may make statements of science using the language of those days. Are these scientifically sound? Of course this by itself only demonstrates that the writings are accurate, and does not prove that they are of divine origin. But if they cannot record even history, geography or science accurately, how can we rely on them for eternal truths beyond human verification? You will find that in such cases the Bible passed all tests with flying colors, whereas other supposedly divine writings either lacked evidence, or contained errors of fact and internal inconsistencies such that their credibility are very much in doubt, and can only be classified as myth, folklore or philosophical/moral teachings.

(To be continued)

Is Asking God for Forgiveness Necessary?

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* Col 2:13
* Forgive us our debts
* 1 Jn 1:9

Q. My colleague told me we should never ask God for forgiveness because He has forgiven us already. Somehow that does not feel alright. What’s your opinion on this?

A. I think your colleague is right in one sense, but wrong in another. Let me explain.

Those who hold this position base it on Col 2:13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins. Before we became a Christian, we were dead in our sins. But when we believed in Him, He forgave us all our sins. This is our position in Christ, the moment we receive Him.

From man’s perspective, there is a tendency for people to divide their sins into those committed up to the point of their trusting in Him as Lord and Savior, and those committed afterwards. Many feel that their pre-conversion sins were all washed away when they believed, but the post-conversion sins require their asking God for forgiveness, or else they won’t be forgiven. This raises the question of what happens if we die in an accident before we have a chance to confess, or if we have forgotten some sins and never confessed them, or if we didn’t even realize that we have offended God or men. Are those sins forgiven?

Actually, the forgiveness of our sins is not dependent on our asking God for forgiveness, as some non-believers do that too in times of crisis. Nor is it dependent on our have a good memory to recall each and every known sin and confessing it, as some of us are truly repentant but are forgetful, or our standards are too low to know that our actions and attitude are sinful. The forgiveness of our sins depends on whether we are “in Christ”, whether we have entrusted ourselves to Him alone for our salvation. If we have a proper relationship with Jesus, all our sins, past, present and future, are forgiven. And all means all. From our point of view, we consider sin to be pre and post-conversion. But from the vantage point of the cross, all our sins are future and forgiven when we are united with Christ. So in this sense, your colleague is right. We do not have to fear about omitting some sins and living in doubt about our salvation.

On the other hand, besides our position there is also our state. Positionally we are cleansed, but our actual state does not match our position, because we sin. Our Lord anticipated this and taught us how we should pray in Mt 6:12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. He was teaching His disciples (Mt 5:1-2), not unbelievers. John understood this perfectly, as he wrote in 1 Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. So, since the Lord taught us to ask the Father to forgive us our debts, I believe your colleague is wrong in stressing we should never ask God for forgiveness. In his zeal to emphasize our position in Christ, he swung to the extreme and forgot our state. Always go by what the whole Bible has to say on a given subject. Going to either extreme of fearing for the forgiveness of our sins, or going overboard in ignoring our Lord’s instructions, would be wrong. Hope this helps.

Grand-kids update

Both are growing up fast!

KSP: Playing mommy

SEL: Running with walker

Good Teachers 5: Compassion for Students

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* Compassion makes others feel great.
* Compassion brings hope and inspiration.
* A good teacher consumes herself for others.
* Great teachers inspire.
* Great teachers help, inspire and affect lives.
* A good teacher blossoms students.

Yesterday we looked at passion for teaching. Today we will wrap up with compassion for the students. We said the heart of great teaching is a matter of the heart. The studying and the practicing are prerequisites, without which you would not even be eligible, let alone being considered a great teacher. I have reserved this till last because it is the most important but often missing in our churches.

When Jesus taught, fed or healed the people, there is one Greek word which describes how He felt towards them – splagchnizomai or “compassion”. This word occurs only 12 times in the NT, and is always associated with Jesus:

* Mt 9:36 Compassion on the crowds
* Mt 14:14, Mk 6:34 Feeding 5,000
* Mt 15:32, Mk 8:2 Feeding 4,000
* Mt 18:27 Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
* Mt 20:34 Healing 2 blind men
* Mk 1:41 Healing a leper
* Mk 9:22 Healing a boy with an evil spirit
* Lk 7:13 Raising a widow’s son
* Lk 10:33 Parable of the Good Samaritan
* Lk 15:20 Parable of the Prodigal Son

The word literally means to be moved as to one’s bowels, for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity, hence to be moved with compassion. It is a feeling with and for others, and is that which fuels acts of kindness and mercy.

Now the objective of teaching is not just the transmission of information, but changed behavior, both in attitude and action. When all is said and done, whether the teacher is successful is not how well he had taught, but how well the students had learned. The latter is measured by how well they had absorbed and integrated the lessons into their system of beliefs and values, which in turn is expressed in their conduct. Therefore good teaching must necessarily be student-centered, not teacher-centered. And in order to be student or other-centered, you must have compassion.

Unfortunately most of us are self-centered. Many feel if I have done good research and know my stuff, have polished my message such that it is clear and precise, and have delivered it with great oratory skill, then I have done my job. If the students did not learn, then it’s their fault. But that’s only half the job, the means. The ends have not been achieved yet.

Let me ask you one thing. Think of the great teachers you had. What do you remember most about them? Is it the contents of the lessons? Do you recall any details? Or is it the kind of person they are? How they have encouraged you, helped you, and inspired you? How they have not given up on you when everybody else had? Those are the teachers that affected you the most. And they did what they did because of the type of person they are. Compassionate acts flow from compassionate people.

To summarize, my long-winded answer to becoming a good teacher is:
* Develop a zeal for teaching
* Love your students
* Study the contents and the methods
* Practice what you preach.
In fact, I believe these are the same requirements to becoming a good pastor, as the role of pastor-teacher go together (Eph 4:11). Hope this helps.

Good Teachers 4: Passion for Teaching

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* Ezra 7:10
* Passion
* Zeal
* Jer 20:9
* Enthusiasm
* 1 Co 9:16

Yesterday we noted from Ezra 7:10 that to be a good bible teacher you need to study as well as practice what you preach, but the most important thing is the heart, passion for the subject as well as compassion for the students. Today we continue with passion for teaching.

Nowadays we often associate passion with lust or sex, but the Greek noun zelos actually means “zeal” or “excitement of mind, ardor, fervor of spirit”. It is a strong, emotional feeling in embracing or pursuing anything, and can be for a person or thing. The verb zeo refers to “boil with heat” when used of water, and metaphorically means fervent in spirit.

It was zeal for God’s house that moved Jesus to cleanse the temple (Jn 2:17). It was zeal that led Paul to persecute the church (Phil 3:6), before he was converted. It was the zeal of the Corinthians that stirred the Macedonians in giving to the saints (2 Co 9:2). Apollos was fervent in spirit when he spoke boldly and taught about Jesus (Acts 18:25). And Paul admonished the Romans to be fervent in spirit in serving the Lord (Romans 12:11). You can see in all these examples that it was the zeal that led to action. One of the reasons why many people are stuck in mediocrity is that there is no intense feeling driving them to action. Without action, there is no improvement. However, with zeal, there is self-motivation to get the job done. I believe it’s the zeal for teaching that would drive the instructor to be the best teacher he/she can be. They will be relentless until the mission is accomplished.

There is a deficiency of great teachers because there is a lack of zeal. Some knew they ought to serve, so when approached by the Sunday school superintendent asking for help they agreed out of a sense of duty, but there was no zeal and joy in that service, and their results showed. Others served because they wanted recognition, but because the motive was not right, the students suffered. I pray that there are more teachers with a burning fire in their hearts, shut up in their bones, such that they cannot hold it in (Jer 20:9). They cannot endure it because it’s in their nature.

Enthusiasm is contagious. May be if we as teachers are zealous, our students will catch that from us. By the way, that works in other fields too, not just Christian education. The best evangelism trainers are those who are under compulsion: Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel (1 Co 9:16). We need zeal in teaching.

(To be continued)

Good Teachers 3: Ezra’s Model

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* Ezra 7:10
* Practice what you preach
* Study
* Passion
* Compassion

Q. I have one more question on being a good Sunday school teacher. There are so many things to learn in the science and the art of teaching. What do you consider the most important to work on first? What is most basic?

A. You have asked a hard question, one in which I’m trying to find an answer myself. I can only give you my current thinking. One of my life texts is Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had:
1. prepared his heart to
2. seek the law of the LORD, and to
3. do [it], and to
4. teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

Before Ezra can teach the Law and its decrees in Israel, there are 3 things he needed to do:
1. devote himself or set his heart to
2. study the law, and to
3. observe and practice it.

Let’s take them in reverse order. #3 is “practice what you preach“. You can’t be a good Bible teacher if you say one thing and do another. You can do that in other subjects, be it science or art, but not when it comes to the Bible. As I pointed out before, you won’t have authority if you do that, since who wants a phony for a teacher?

#2 is study to master the subject matter, both the contents and the methods, how to present the topic in a way that the students can learn it. This is the “study” of 2 Tim 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

For a Bible teacher, this involves knowing the Bible itself, as well as enough learning theory, communication etc. to effectively get your message across to your audience. Many skills are involved, including hermeneutics, homiletics, public-speaking, story-telling etc. Most people focus their attention here, and it is important, but that by itself won’t make you a good teacher. This is just the technical part of teaching, and there are many good “technicians”, but it’s only the skeletal structure. Without the “flesh” and the “breath” it is not a living body.

#1 is where the heart of the matter lies. Ezra prepared or set his heart to the mission – he devoted or dedicated himself to the task. I believe there are two parts to this “heart”:
1. heart for teaching, or passion, and
2. heart for the students, or compassion.

(To be continued)

Loved Jacob, Hated Esau? (Election 2)

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* Jacob cheated to obtain birthright
* God loved Jacob but hated Esau
* Election of nations

Q. Why did God love Jacob but hate Esau, especially before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad (Rom 9:11)? It’s totally unfair! Even we don’t prejudge like that!

Yesterday we looked at Scripture’s assertion that God does not show favoritism, and that He always does right, consistent with His nature. Today we shall look at the text itself. On first glance, Rom 9:1-16 seems to be a prima facie case proving God does play favorites towards individuals, as He loved Jacob but hated Esau, before the twins were even born. But let’s begin by examining the context.

The immediate context is Rom 9, the beginning of 3 chapters (Rom 9-11) that deals with the fate of the nation Israel. It is not addressing personal salvation, but the Jewish people as a whole, its corporate entity. In the West people focus on individuals, but the emphasis of the Eastern mindset is on corporate election and judgment.

Secondly, let’s look at the broader context. Rom 9:13 is a quotation from Mal 1:2-3, “I have loved you,” says the LORD. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” the LORD says. “Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated …” If you continue reading to the two verses following, you will see that the LORD was referring to Jacob and Esau not as persons, but to the nations that descended from them, Israel and Edom: Mal 1:4-5 Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.” But this is what the LORD Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the LORD. You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the LORD–even beyond the borders of Israel!’ So Malachi was using anthropomorphism, a figure of speech to represent the nations as humans.

Third, we need to understand what “loved” and “hated” mean. Some commentators tried to soften the impact by saying “hated” means “loved less”. They point to Gen 29:30-31 (KJV) He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years. Yahweh saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Jacob did not have any malice towards Leah, so this explanation is possible. But I think an understanding of the historical background provides us with a better alternative.

In ancient wills the testator used the phrase “I have hated” to reject a person’s claim to any part of his estate which he had designated to his beneficiaries. Malachi used this language to remind Israel that they were the “loved” ones, the chosen people, who will inherit the promises given to the Patriarchs, while Edom was “hated” and have no part in the covenant.

Why was Edom rejected? The reason was given in Obad 1:10, 12-14 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever. You should not look down on your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble. You should not march through the gates of my people in the day of their disaster, nor look down on them in their calamity in the day of their disaster, nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster. You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives, nor hand over their survivors in the day of their trouble. Instead of helping Israel, Edom sided with its enemy, cutting Israel down and delivering the survivors to her enemies.

In summary, God had not been unfair to the person Esau by favoring Jacob. In fact, He also multiplied him into a great nation. However, He chose Israel as His instrument but rejected Edom for her violence. He is not prejudiced. It is we who may have a bias against God by imputing to Him unfairness. Hope this explanation helps.

Is God Fair? (Election 1)

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* Is God fair?
* Favoritism
* God is always just.

Q. It does not seem fair that God said, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad (Rom 9:13, 11). Why does God show favoritism towards Jacob? Why create Esau as an object of hatred? It’s so unfair!

A. The subject of God choosing or “electing” some and not others have been misunderstood by many. Let’s take it a step at a time. First, everyone chooses. We choose, so does God. We value our freedom to choose. So where is the logic that we have the freewill to choose, but when God chooses it’s unfair? Are we higher than God, that we can freely choose with fairness, but God can’t be trusted to do what’s right? What kind of twisted thinking is that? Our assumption that God is unfair has more to do with our being sinful and lack understanding than any wrong-doing on God’s part.

Second, God does not show favoritism. That’s the consistent witness of Scripture:
* Acts 10:34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism.
* Rom 2:11 For God does not show favoritism.
* Eph 6:9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.

Third, God will always do right:
* Gen 18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing–to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
* Job 8:3 Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
* Job 34:12 It is unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice.

If that’s the case, then how do you explain His loving Jacob and hating Esau? We will deal with this in the next post.

(To be continued)

Good Teachers 2: Parables and Zeal

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* Parables
* Stories hold attention
* Zeal
* Asking right questions
* Good teaching is …
* Secrets of great teachers

Yesterday we noted that Jesus’ teaching had authority. My second point is that He taught in parables:
* Then he told them many things in parables (Mt 13:3, Mk 4:2)
* Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable (Mt 13:34).
Why? Some commentators have argued from Mt 13:13 that Jesus taught in parables to hide the truth from the people, which I disagreed. I have discussed this in:

http://raykliu.wordpress.com/2011/08/05/purpose-of-parables-1/
http://raykliu.wordpress.com/2011/08/06/purpose-of-parables-2/

and won’t repeat myself here. But the point is that Jesus used stories:
* To catch the people’s attention,
* To hold their interest,
* To illustrate His point, and
* To make it relevant to daily living.

One of the reasons why our Sunday school lessons or sermons are boring is that we use too few illustrations. Some try to make up for it by cramming in stories or jokes, even though they may not be relevant. But the most powerful stories are those linked to the personal experience of the teacher. He had practised the principles in his own life, and in sharing his struggles he set an example for his students to follow. If you don’t practise what you preach, you have no testimony to share. It’s that simple. So to liven up your message, live it out first, then you’ll have something true-to-life to share.

A third thing I’ll just touch on is zeal. John Wesley once said, “Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.” Our Lord was zealous:
* Jn 2:17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
I believe our students/congregation are bored or not motivated because we are not enthusiastic ourselves. Sometimes we teach out of duty. Other times we want to be seen and honored by men. No wonder our messages lacked power and do not change lives. The best teachers I ever had are always enthusiastic about their subject and their students. They put in their time to make sure we “got it”. It’s those extra effort, practising with us until it sunk in, that set them apart as good teachers.

So to be a good teacher you start by being a good student first:
* Mt 10:24-25 A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.
* Lk 6:40 A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
Learn from the Master. I have not even begun to talk about all the other essential qualities like caring, challenging etc. I have just given you a few seed thoughts to get you started. Hope you’ll take it from there to launch a lifelong pursuit of excellence.