Before we start...

Before we begin I would love to share with you something very important in the process of studying the Bible and why we need to start here before we move on. Many questions have been asked by students and others as to why we should trust the Bible as a valid resource. What makes it unique and different from all other books? Can we trust the Bible to be accurate? Was the Bible corrupted through out history?
When I first started reading the Bible, I had no one tell me, "OK, start here and finish here." I just dug into it. Let me explain. I was eleven years old. I grew up in church. I knew when to stand up and when to sit down. Yet this "religion" was not my own...it was my mom and dads "religion". I was first confronted with my faith when my grandfather passed away. I remember standing beside his coffin and my father saying these exact words, "One day we will see Joe again, as long as we have follow Christ as our Lord ad Savior" Those words haunted me for weeks. Even though I went to church every Sunday and heard those exact same words from the pulpit they did not mean anything to me until I was faced with the death of one, who was so dear to me. For weeks God would speak through the pastor. It was always a message that spoke to the very core of my heart. The word of the Lord would seem to cry out to me, "I need you Ed. I love you!" Every time my response was the same..."Leave me alone! I do not need you!" Then one night I came to the conclusion that I needed someone greater than myself. That I was a sinner. I was not perfect. The pain that I was going through and the actions that were being birthed could not go on any longer. God was reaching out to me and I had a choice to make. August 12, 1979 I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. I remember telling my mother that night before going to bed the decision I had made. No longer was it my parents "religion", it had now become my relationship with God, through Christ. If I was going to serve "this" God, I better get to know him. So as an eleven year old kid, I began to read the Bible...Genesis through Revelation. I could not say the big words. I could not fully understand the meaning. Yet the more I read, the more God showed his love for me. Even to this day, some thirty years later, the Bible still blows me away! Paul, while writing his last letter before his martyrdom, said the following to Timothy. "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel (the good news, the good message), for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. BUT, God's word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory." (2 Timothy 2:8-10) God's word is unchained! It was not only written/given to people for their time. Yet it was given to all of humanity for all generations! Meaning that the words that were written...were written with you in mind! God, knowing that one day you may come across a passage that screams out to you..."know ME!"

Next week....The Uniqueness of the Scriptures!