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The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them
to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19,20).
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October 16, 2016
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Contents:
1) Can We Believe the Bible? (Dan King)
2) God is Concerned About "Little Things," Too (Paul Earnhart)
3) News & Notes
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-1-
Can We Believe the Bible?
Dan King
Question:
"What proof do we have that we can trust the Bible for everything it
says? The Bible has been handed down so many times. The
translation has been changed, and everybody knows when you're
passing on information the meaning never comes back the way it
originated. One word changed can change the whole meaning of the
passage. The Bible was written so long ago how do we know its
meaning is still the same and how do we know it's not just another
man-made project?"
Answer:
The poof that you ask about is found in many places.
First, there is archaeology. Archaeologists have uncovered
evidence in many places and from across many centuries about many
different aspects of the Bible. For example, at one time
skeptics doubted whether the Hittites, which are mentioned only
briefly and with little detail in the Genesis account, actually ever
existed at all. Eventually archaeological discovery in Asia
Minor uncovered an entire civilization, with their distinctive
culture, language and history. The simple biblical references
were found to be representative of a people who settled and traded
throughout the entire ancient Near East in the time of Abraham and
the other patriarchs.
Many biblical cities have been uncovered and excavated to reveal
distinctive events such as destruction layers which coincide with
the biblical story of the Exodus from Egypt and capture of many of
the cities of ancient Canaan in the books of Joshua and
Judges. Many other such things are well attested in both the
literature of the other peoples and from excavation
activities. For example, during the fall of Jerusalem in 587
B.C., the book of Jeremiah (with 2 Chronicles and 2 Kings)
represents the fall of the surrounding cities while Jerusalem lay
under siege. In the excavation of the city of Lachish, the
so-called "Lachish letters" were found, which detail the gradual
capture of the towns precisely as Jeremiah and the books of history
describe. Furthermore, it mentions some who were "weakening the
hands of the people" in the midst of the siege, which is precisely
the charge leveled against Jeremiah in the book by his name.
There are many other things, far too numerous to mention here, which
establish the general tenor of the biblical writings as recording
genuine history.
Further, as to the fact that the Bible has been handed down to us in
the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament through many
hands and many centuries, let it be noted that the Bible is the best
attested ancient book in the entire world. There are literally
thousands of copies of both the OT and the NT in their original
languages which have come down to us -- some of them extremely
ancient. For example, many copies of the Dead Sea Scrolls
(Hebrew manuscripts of OT books) go back to the first century before
the time of Jesus, others perhaps even a century earlier than
that. If we may trust that we have the works of Plato,
Aristotle, Seneca, and the host of other ancient writers whose
materials are not nearly so well attested, why would we not also be
able to believe that we have the precise words of Christ and his
apostles, as well as those of Moses and the Old Testament prophets?
As to whether the words were changed in the process of time and
transmission to our day, you must remember that the transmitters
(scribes) of ancient times were extraordinarily careful, believing
that a curse from heaven was upon the one who would change even a
single word of Holy Scripture (see Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Matt. 5:18;
Rev. 22:18,19). But since mistakes did occasionally occur
because of oversights and writing errors, it was the hundreds of
other copies of the scripture that acted as a countermeasure to
assure the mistakes could be corrected.
This process of establishing the original text has come to be called
"the science of textual criticism." The translation process
itself is really the most convincing part. Think of all the
translations there are out there -- literally hundreds of different
ones in the English language alone. Take a few translations
and compare them side by side. You know what happens?
You come up with very little difference between them. Most only
differ in the different ways of saying the exact same things!
The ultimate answer is YES, we can definitely trust the Bible.
-- Via bulletin articles from the Collegevue church of Christ,
August 28, 2016
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"To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by
many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty
days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God" (Acts
1:3).
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-2-
God is Concerned About "Little Things," Too
Paul Earnhart
The order of Jesus' model prayer makes clear that the glory of God
and the accomplishing of His will in the world must always be at the
heart of the life and thinking of the Christian. His prayers,
like his life, should begin and end there. It is on just such
a note that the section of the sermon which contains this
instructive prayer concludes (Matthew 6:33). Yet this does not
preclude the bringing of our own needs and burdens to God's
throne. This is made evident by the three (some say four)
concluding requests of the prayer (Matthew 6:11-13). These all
center on basic human necessities.
"Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). With
these words the Lord makes a sudden shift from the exalted to the
commonplace. The apparent discontinuity of it caused
many of the ancient commentators to spiritualize the "bread," but
there is nothing in the context to justify it. On the face of
things it just seems that physical considerations should be left
till last, after forgiveness and the the strength to endure
temptation. But that is not where Jesus put them (either here
or in Luke 11:2-4). He certainly does not intend that physical
necessities become life's overriding concern (Matthew 6:19-32) but
He is also not discounting their importance. The "Word" who
became flesh understood from experience the bodily needs of men
(Hebrews 2:18; 4:15) and demonstrated how seriously He took them in
His compassion for the sick and hungry (Mark 1:40-41; Matthew 15:32;
25:41-43). The inclusion of this brief petition demonstrated that
there is no matter so small that we may not with confidence bring it
to our Father. Paul urges this: "Be anxious for nothing, but
in everything by prayer and supplication... let your requests be
made known to God" (Philippians 4:6). Peter says the same:
"Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" (1 Peter
5:7). Once we have determined to do His will at all costs, we
may speak freely to Him of all our needs from the least to the
greatest.
This simple petition speaks not only of God's wide-ranging concern
but of our own complete dependence on Him. "Bread" as here
used likely stands for all of life's bodily needs -- food, shelter,
health, family, etc. In any case we cannot by our own unaided
strength supply one of them. As Clovis Chappell once observed,
we could no more create one loaf of bread than we could create the
universe. "The earth is the LORD'S, and all its fullness"
(Psalm 24:1). Hence we have no real choice but to trust God
even at the most elemental level.
The English translation "daily bread" is somewhat of an educated
guess since the Greek word for "daily" occurs nowhere else for
certain in Greek literature. It may suggest bread for the day
ahead or bread sufficient to sustain us. In either case Jesus
teaches us to ask for no more than a day's supply. This is a
tough assignment for people like ourselves who are inclined to fall
to pieces without a lifetime provision in hand and fully
insured. If we follow the Lord's counsel we will quit trusting
in bread (John 6:25) and learn to lean wholly on God and His
promises. Learning to live trustingly with what we have each
day calls to mind God's manna experiment with Israel while they were
in the wilderness. "He humbled, you," wrote Moses, "allowed
you to hunger, and fed you with manna... that He might make you know
that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD" (Deuteronomy 8:3).
Jesus had used this passage once to great advantage (Matthew
4:4). We can do the same.
However much, then, it might have seemed at first that this prayer
for bread was prayer from a very low ground, it turns out to have
powerful spiritual benefit. It teaches us faith. And
this is a prayer for the poor and the rich alike; for no matter how
little or how much we have or how hard we struggle to obtain and
keep it, God alone can secure it. If we will learn to trust
Him, God's children can live serenely in the confidence once
expressed by the aged David: "I have been young, and now am old; yet
I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging
bread" (Psalm 37:25). And if we learn this kind of
trust about bread, it will free us to get
about the things that are even more important.
-- Via Articles from the Douglas Hills church of Christ, January 1,
2016
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-3-
News & Notes
Melotine Davis fell October 18 while walking
into Staples. The impact was mainly on her right
shoulder, which was still severely sore Saturday evening and
requiring pain medicine. She had immediately gone to her
doctor who took anx-ray
which showed no broken bones, but put her on some pain
medicine.She
returned to see her doctor Friday and also has an appointment
this Monday with an orthopedist.
Shirley Davis still has the pin in her toe,
following her recent surgery. But if all goes well, it
will be removed in about a week. Her toe is sore,
and she is to keep it propped up. She still also has the
pain in her back, which continues to be that which bothers her
the most. In addition, she will be seeing her doctor in
Valdosta in November to look into having a complete knee
replacement for her right knee.
Jonathan Abbott was admitted to the hospital
October 18, due to a gastrointestinal problem causing severe
pain. He improved by the 20th, discontinued his pain
medicine, and was released late that afternoon. On the
27th, he will be returning for a follow-up.
Let those of us who are Christians also be remembering
the following in prayer: Kay Byars (as she heals from her 3rd cancer surgery); La Donna Andrews, Lexi Crawford, Camp Tatum, and
Kelli Fleeman (who are dealing with cancer); Bennie Medlock (as he is still healing from an infection in his
back); Jim Lively and Ray Richards (as they heal from open heart surgery); Mary Cribbs (who wasn’t feeling well recently), and Mary Vandevander who remains housebound, due to her health.
A Gospel Meeting begins today (Oct. 23-28) at the North Valdosta
church of Christ (4313 North Valdosta Road, Valdosta, GA) Speaker: Gene Taylor.Sunday: 9-10-11 a.m. Monday through Friday: 7:30 p.m.
1) Hear the gospel, for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John
20:30,31).
2) Believe in the deity of Christ (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent of sins (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts
2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet.
3:21).
6) Continue in the faith, living for the Lord; for, if not,
salvation can be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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Tebeau Street
CHURCH OF CHRIST
1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA 31501
Sunday services: 9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 5 PM (worship)
Tuesday: 7 p.m. (Ladies' Bible class)
Wednesday: 7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (912) 614-8593
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
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pictures in WordPress)
http://thomastedwards.com/go (Older version of Gospel Observer
website without pictures, but back to March 1990)
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