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Doubt Busters Expanded Edition
Doubt Busters Expanded Edition: Answering the Questions that Challenge our Faith
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SynopsisThis massive compilation of 140 Christian questions and answers go from the interesting (How can you believe a dead man came back to life?) to the incendiary (Why does God hate homosexuals?), to the irritating (How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?).
These age-old difficulties have caused many people to question the Christian faith. They are tough questions, but they have solid, satisfying answers that can banish your doubts. This handy volume covers the material with a friendly, readable style using personal anecdotes, real-life stories, and analogies from nature. The author drew from his years of teaching God's Word and writing devotionals to write plainly and root his answers in the Word of God.
Who should read this? Doubt Busters is perfect for those whose faith is being crippled by nagging doubts, for it gives plain yet full answers to perplexing Bible questions. It's a terrific resource for those who want to share their faith, and want to answer the questions that come their way. It's a great gift for young people who are just starting to think about what their faith means to them. -
ExcerptIs there any way to prove that God exists?
God can do what no one else can do. If you wanted to prove that you were God, you would probably prove it by accomplishing what ordinary mortals cannot do. Perhaps you would fly. Or disappear and reappear in a new location. Or raise someone from the dead. You might lift several trucks up in air and juggle them. Perhaps demonstrate invulnerability by diving into bubbling lava and walking out again. You could go to the nearest VA hospital and cause new limbs to grow.
In a secular culture, you might even submit to tests of all kinds so skeptical scientists could measure the results scientifically.
The Christian God was very careful to prove himself when he had the Bible written. He wanted to make sure you would recognize him as God when he set his plan of salvation into effect. He did this by accurately telling us what the future holds. No person on earth, no medium or psychic, can claim the accurate prediction rate of God. God gave times, people's names, and place names so we could check out history and verify his work. He even gave us the name of a historical figure centuries before the fact!
Now if you wanted everyone to know that you, as God, was going to appear as a human being, you would explain what you would be like so you would be recognized. You could put in the city of your birth, where you would grow up, what kinds of deeds you would do, your temperament, your purpose, even how you would die.
God did all that in the Old Testament. It was all in written form four hundred years before Jesus' birth. The New Testament gospels follow Jesus and point out some of the places where he fulfilled the prophecies. If you haven't been exposed to biblical prophecy before, let me give you several examples.
Daniel recounts in chapter eleven of his book of having received knowledge of future events from God. Written in the 6th century B.C., Daniel gives us an accurate description of events winding down to 199-198 B.C. He foresaw Alexander the Great's kingdom split up into four factions. The prophecy predicts details of the conflict between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid dynasties. Skeptics cannot believe the account was written before 164 B.C. Unlike Nostradamus' cryptic writings, Daniel chapter eleven describes plain schemes and conquests that are easily followed by the student of history.
Can you name the next president of the United States just two years ahead of time? Can you guess what name a friend will come up with for her new baby barely twelve months into the future? No? Well, how about naming a king who will not appear for another 150 years, and name his nation? The prophet Isaiah did just that. In Isaiah 44:28-45:1 God tells us that Cyrus, king of Persia, will decree regarding Jerusalem, "You shall be built," and regarding the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid." In 2 Chronicles 36:22 and Ezra 1:1-3 we find that Cyrus did indeed come to power and called the Jews to return to Israel and rebuild Jerusalem, which had been destroyed earlier.
Can you predict when the Messiah (God's chosen one, Jesus) will appear in the world? Daniel 9:24-25 tells us that the Messiah would die 483 Hebrew years after "the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem." (Enemies of Israel had destroyed Jerusalem twice in Israel's history.) Nehemiah 2:1-8 tells us that King Artaxerxes issued that decree (March 5, 444 B.C.). 483 prophetic years (360 days to a year in the calendar of the ancient world) and seven days later, Jesus the Messiah was crucified.
How could a prophet accurately predict the dismantling of a world empire hundreds of years beforehand? How could a prophet give us the name, nation, and decree over a hundred years prior to the king's birth? How could a man foretell to the year the life and death of Jesus unless he really heard the voice of God? (I can't even predict which shirt I'll wear next week!) These are only a small sample of prophecies in the Bible. One quarter of the Bible is prophecy. Several archaeological discoveries have verified these and many other accounts. God has proven his existence wonderfully.
What Do You Think?
a. Nearly a quarter of the Bible is prophecy. Do you believe that consistent, accurate reporting of facts with names, places, and events hundreds of years in advance demonstrates a God-like intelligence behind the Bible?
b. Most of us have no problem guessing or even gambling on various outcomes. In what ways do the prophecies mentioned above go beyond guessing?
c. The coming of Jesus Christ fulfilled around one hundred prophecies. Another one hundred or so prophecies yet remain regarding his Second Coming. How many prophecies must be accurately fulfilled before someone should take God seriously?
Note
Pearl, Michael, No Greater Joy, "Learning from the Atheists," May-June 2007. -
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Ready for a Reward
Ready for a Reward: What the Bible Says about Getting Ready for Christ's Return
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SynopsisThis immensely practical book answers many important questions related to the Judgment Seat of Christ, such as:
• What are the prerequisites for receiving the greatest rewards?
• Will Jesus judge us according to our works?
• Will God remember my sins after I die?
• Since I'm already saved, do I really need to worry about a time of judgment?
• Isn't working for a reward a form of legalistic bargaining with God?
This book will revive your zeal for the things of God. It will strengthen your stand against sin and worldliness. It will help you detect your weaknesses and renew your spiritual priorities.
You have but one life to live, and then the judgment. In simple language, down-to-earth illustrations, personal life stories, and abundant scriptural teachings, Steve shows us how to come to the throne ready for a reward - for a well-deserved crown, throne, and the everlasting inheritance reserved for those ready in faith. -
ExcerptEnduring
If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. (2 Tim. 2:12)
I work for a factory that designs and manufactures radio-controlled hobby racing cars. These sixteen-inch cars can attain speeds of thirty miles per hour or more. They feature tunability to the track conditions, adaptability to various racing rules, are reasonably crash resistant, and maneuverable. Before the kit is presented to the public, the research and development team tests its cars for flaws and rectifies them to satisfy the demanding racer.
The Lord tests us to prepare us for a grand presentation in the kingdom. He tests us through suffering. Christians suffer that we may reign with Christ. We will suffer in the tests, just like the radio-control kits are crash tested. Very often the "good life" masks the problems within that suffering can uncover. We may have been tossed by stormy winds of financial instability, an irksome neighbor, or a shaky marriage. But children of God understand what's behind the events that are beyond our control. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are the called according to His purpose" (Rom. 8:28). When our best-laid plans go awry, can we praise God for having put into effect a higher plan for our lives? When our ideas don't work out, it's only because God's plan prevailed. When the washing machine breaks down and we don't, it is because we believe that "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:17-18).
Suffering entered when the door of sin was opened. When God created Adam and Eve, He commanded them to subdue the world and have dominion over it (Gen. 1:28). When Adam disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit, he turned the whole creation over to Satan's dominion (Luke 4:6). Christ came to retrieve the dominion that was lost, one person at a time. The Lord labors in our lives to bring everything under His lordship. Sin is to be systematically dethroned. If we overcome sin, we will sit on thrones with Christ in His glorious kingdom. "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Rev. 3:21).
This process of suffering, this preparation needed to reign with Christ, has been misunderstood. Remember the story of the mother of two disciples who asked a favor of Jesus? "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom" (Matt. 20:21). This mother wanted the best for her children. But she misunderstood the nature of that reign, supposing that she could prevail for her sons by lobbying a political favor. The Master responded, "Are you ready to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" (Matt. 20:22). Reigning with Him is attained by character growth, which is earned through adversity. This is the baptism of suffering.
Testing checks to see if the part added to the radio-control car will remain true to its task or reveal failures. I may pick up a teaching in the Word of God to be kinder and gentler. I resolve to make it part of my life. Then tensions at work test my resolve. When my co-worker fails to follow through as I expected and I react with dark thoughts and anger, the test reveals what areas I need to work on. Were my actions guided by the Lord's command or by my anger? Was I dependent on my co-worker for my peace and joy, or on the Lord and His love?
When I stand before God on that day of presentation, I want my feelings and thoughts to be solidly under His supervision. Suffering by itself is not an indication that we are bound for a throne, because everyone suffers. Suffering itself does not indicate whether the Lord is pleased or displeased with us. We should expect to suffer when we make choices for the Lord. It may be more satisfying to get revenge, but when we choose to pray until we have the mind of God, we suffer according to the will of God. We may be tempted to cut corners, thinking that no one will notice. Suffering comes as we subject ourselves to doing the job carefully before the Lord.
But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. (1 Peter 4:15-19)
Suffering for the Future
My employer's company designs its cars with the future in mind. Our radio-control kits must be able to stand the test of time while we upgrade other cars. Stress-testing new plastics, suspension arm mounting positions, and other designs in one car may help improve our other cars. Similarly, our suffering in trials can help other brethren endure. "If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer" (2 Cor. 1:6, NIV). The apostle Paul found the help of God and was able to pass on that encouragement.
At work I receive the customers' e-mails with questions. Some I answer with information from the instruction manual. Others I pass on to different departments because of my lack of experience with the issue. The answers shared from those departments are not found in any manual, but only in those who have solved the difficulty first-hand. Our Bible knowledge can only take us so far. But he who acts upon the Lord's command to endure will have a mature depth of faith to share with saving conviction.
In the end times, such men and women will be in short supply and sorely needed, for suffering will increase among God's people and the world at large. "The love of many will grow cold" (Matt. 24:12). Leaders need to be raised up, not through more Bible instruction, but through suffering. "I know what you're going through. I had the same problem and here's how the Lord helped me."
If we want our service to be enlarged, we must expect suffering. If I want to exercise my physical heart, I need to do more than simply ride my exercise bike for a comfortable twenty minutes. I must push my heart beyond what it normally endures. If I wish to grow in physical strength, I cannot be satisfied with the same weight routine every day. I must push my muscles past their comfort zone with extra weight, or increase the number of repetitions. If men are to be raised up in these last days to encourage the flock, they must suffer.
Opportunities exist for suffering and growth even when the most exciting thing to happen in the month is a potluck. If I underestimate the importance of suffering, I will miss opportunities. When I don't feel like getting out of bed early for prayer, I miss the opportunity to become a prayer warrior who holds back the evil tide for my church and community. When I often decide to skip my evening Bible study for a more frivolous pursuit, I forgo the needed training to develop a spiritual backbone. When I show up at an outreach distracted and without a burden for souls, I blow that opportunity to be a powerful vehicle for God.
We are called to be Christians in the midst of the ordinary. Pray for enlargement and expect suffering to come. It may be that your present sufferings are the result of the Lord answering your pleas for growth! -
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Notes in the Margin, Matthew
Notes in the Margin, Matthew: God has Something to Say about Every Verse
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SynopsisThese brief thoughts, one for every verse in Matthew's 28 chapters, will challenge you to dig deeper into God's Word. God has something to say to challenge us in every verse of scripture, and speaks to us where we are to draw us to a closer walk with Him. Written by a writer who has penned hundreds of devotionals, he knows how to pinpoint the issue we need to face to grow as Christians.
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ExcerptMatthew 1
verse 1
People wonder if Jesus was a real figure. This genealogy traces real people to the Son. Our Savior is real and alive! (Son of David: fulfills Jer. 23:4-6.)
2
Through Judah the Messiah comes. The Messiah may also come to others through us -- by our words and conduct, not birth.
3
Judah had an illicit relation with Tamar. God can further His purposes in my life in spite of my failings!
4
I don't know anything about these people, but God used them. It's okay to be work in obscurity and not be noticed.
5
Both Jews and Gentiles (such as Ruth) are in the genealogy that leads to the Messiah's birth. Today, my ancestry is not as important to God as my willingness to live for Him.
6
God continued the line despite David's sin with Bathsheba. Let's not let the enemy count us out over our sin. God is a Savior yet.
7
Jesus' lineage includes kings who honored or dishonored God. Into which group will I find myself at the end of the day?
8
Uzziah was also called Azariah in 2 Kings 15. He changed his name, but not his character, and the Lord struck him. So we pray, "Lord, change my heart!"
9
Ahaz, a wicked king, begot Hezekiah, a great king. We can become godly in spite of an abusive family upbringing or other bad circumstances.
10
A bad king, Manasseh, follows a great king. We can't depend on our good circumstances to continue into the future. We must look to God as individuals and develop our own relationships with Him.
11
What is happening to the family under our care -- are we becoming captive to the flesh or to Jesus?
12
Once out of captivity, they got another chance at the Promised Land. Jesus has set us free from sin's slavery. Do we know how to make the best of it today?
13
These people probably did not know that they were just a few generations from Messiah's birth. We don't know when He's coming the second time -- will we endure a while longer?
14
These names go from A to Z! Jesus is the First and the Last (Rev. 1:17). He is the one preserving the royal lineage to the Messiah. He is preserving our salvation as well.
15
As these men's lives lead to the coming of the Messiah, so it is with my life. Second Peter 3:12 tells me I may hasten the day of His arrival!
16
Jesus came through the lineage of David exactly as God prophesied. So we can trust the prophecies regarding the Second Coming of Jesus as well!
17
God's work is an orderly work. What characterizes my work? I will be careful and thorough in my work today.
18
The miracle of the virgin birth: God added something -- Himself -- that wasn't in Mary before. Following Jesus, He will produce fruit in us as well that wasn't there before.
19
Joseph was ready to divorce Mary discreetly when he found her pregnant. Do we shame others over the faults we see in them, or are we discreet?
20
Is it possible that the Holy Spirit has conceived our current uncomfortable circumstances and we should endure them patiently?
21
Why did Jesus die? To help us feel good, get rich, gain friends, cure diseases, or beat loneliness? No -- to save us from sin! Deal with sin and wait for the coming kingdom.
22
God gave exact, 100% accurate details of Jesus' birth, life, and death centuries in advance. Who says there's no proof of God's existence?
23
When I deal with sin, I'll know the blessedness of "God With Us." Removal of sin removes the barrier that keeps us from God.
24
Being convinced of God's command for us will rouse us from sleep. What does the Lord want us to pursue in faith today?
25
Jesus means "God is Salvation." Are still looking for someone or something to help us? That someone already came! Seek Him now.
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Spiritual Calligraphy
Spiritual Calligraphy: A meditation + calligraphy for each of the 16 chapters of the Gospel of Mark
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SynopsisSee God's Word glorified in these 16 passages from the Gospel of Mark, each one beautifully illustrated with stunning calligraphy paired with an insightful meditation. Full color throughout. Also includes information and photos about the calligrapher's tools used throughout the book. May the combination of calligraphy + meditation cause you to pursue the treasure outside the pages, the true beauty that is written on the heart by God.
These artworks appeared in the full-color app version of Steps of a Disciple, and in black-and-white in the print version. -
Book ReviewWow, what an artistic talent the author has. The calligraphy is stunningly beautiful and makes the reader want to learn the craft. Very well done. The book is gorgeous, especially since the author chose a taller layout to really show off the detail in the illustrations. Seeing these full-page images, it occurs that the cover could be a more impressive single image than the collection of "tiles" on the current cover. Those snippets don't do the author's talent justice.
Great concept, illustrating the Gospel of Mark-very unique and a great pull into the subject matter. Well done. Author has designed a book of great balance between the art and the text; each section is concise and appealing.
Excellent choice to include details on the calligraphy tool used, as well as the symbolism and reasons behind the illustrations. When the later sections don't have this, they are missed. It's a great strength of the book. The best illustration is on page 12, with the "I" made bigger. So powerful. Well designed.
The text explorations of the gospels start off a little preachy, but quickly move away from any over powering and get very inspiring. They're written in a terrific tone, very approachable, and in a way that engenders personal exploration of the points. Author knows this subject matter well, and we know we are in good hands in the sharing of these points ... made all the better by the pairing of the artistry. A gorgeous read.
Book commentary from a judge, 23rd Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards -
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18pt Giant Print Holy Bible, 3 volumes
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SynopsisNow you can read the Bible in easy-to-read super giant print 18 point type!
I have been trying to find a large print Bible so those I know with poor eyesight could read it comfortably, and those with low income could pay as they are able, volume by volume, at only $8 each. I used my book design skills to make my own. Broken up into individual volumes, they are lighter for the elderly to hold.
The version used is the World English Bible, which is based on the American Standard Version of the Holy Bible first published in 1901, the Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensa Old Testament, and the Greek Majority Text New Testament. Its modern English is very easy to read and comprehend.
There is no print in the book that is smaller than 18pt. Even the page numbers and inline notes are 18pt, unlike many other giant print Bibles out there.
Three volumes are currently available: Matthew-John, Acts-Revelation, and Job-Song of Solomon. -
ExcerptPrint out these sample PDF pages to get an idea of the large size of this print edition:
18pt sample -
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