My Prayer to Open the Wisconsin State Senate

Last week I was honored with an invitation from Senator Van Wangaard (R-21st District)  to open the Wisconsin State Senate session in prayer, which I did yesterday. Below is the text of my prayer, and the link for viewing the Senate proceedings, including my prayer, is here (about a 1.5 minutes in).

God, our Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer, we thank you for your gracious hand that works ceaselessly to bring about the preservation of truth, justice, and peace—all things that this room represents.

Today, God, we recall what Scripture says:

            Unless the LORD builds the house,

            those who build it labor in vain.

            Unless the LORD watches over the city,

            the watchman stays awake in vain.  (Psalm 127:1)

And you have also told us that to whom much has been given, much shall be required (Luke 12:48).

We look at our state and nation’s past and see that indeed we have been given much, and because you are a God who speaks the truth, we know also that much is required of us as champions of truth, justice, and peace.

So today, God, we ask that you would forgive us where we have failed to act in the interests of others and have instead chosen selfishly.

Lord, where we have lived faithfully and tasted success, would you grant us humility.

God, where we have scratched the surface of progress, would you encourage us and help us press forward.

To all those whom you have entrusted leadership today, give them a vision for what you desire our state and nation to become, and then, Father, the wisdom and fortitude to see it through.

I pray for the Senate, for the Assembly, who are tasked to look the greatest challenges we as human beings can face squarely in the eyes and do something about them.

As a state, we have not solved all the social problems of our time, such as racism, and drug sales, and drug use, and abuse, and violence. And this is because none of us is capable of solving the fundamental problems of sin: human greed, and pride, and selfishness. If we are to address such horrific problems, we need you to give us your insight, your compassion, and certainly your strength. 

And, God, would you begin with us. Start the process of uprooting greed and pride and selfishness within us.

God, today, remind us that you have shown us what is good because you have shown us yourself, in Holy Scripture and in the person of your Son. Having seen what is good, you have also shown us what is required of us:

To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.

For all of us, we pray that you would make from the great mash-up of personalities and opinions and experiences that we call the state of Wisconsin, a humble people, seeking your will for our lives and for our great state and nation.

Help us, in these halls, to work as never before to strengthen our families, to solidify a moral foundation for our children.

In other words, O God, make our desire to serve you, and as we serve you we trust that you will lead us in service to others.

All of this we pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

When The Bible's Math Doesn't Add Up

Week one into the Read the Bible 2012 campaign and I got a great question from a congregant about Bible math. No, it's not the end-times math that treats the Bible like the periodic table. 
The question is actually about an apparent conflict between Genesis 12 and Stephen's speech in Acts 7, and, secondarily, about the different translations between the NIV and ESV. 

Here's how it played out.

The question:

Question for you regarding the ESV/NIV translations on something in Genesis 11 & 12 (yep.... read  a few verses ahead...).   In the NIV 12:1 reads: "The LORD had said to Abram...." and the ESV reads:  "Now the LORD said to Abram..." (they did have a note "Or had said... so grammar allows for this reading").   I think I noticed this because I have been studying Abraham's call, life, obedience, disobedience, etc.  Everything I've learned states that Genesis 11:31-32 took place AFTER God's call to Abram probably while he was still living in Mesopotamia. 


When I looked at the ESV notes, they seemed to be presenting a different picture of this order and gave ages of Terah and Abram to resolve what Stephen stated in Acts 7:4:  "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran, and said to him, 'Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you...'".

I realize in the big picture .... Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!! ..... that this is not a huge thing, but want to handle God's Word correctly.

 Here was my reply:

Thanks for the email. I’m not sure why the translators chose “said”  instead of “had said” since they use “had said” in other places all over the  Old Testament. I don’t think, though, that they are trying to change the way  we read the timeline.

The “had said” vs. “said” is not the issue most  closely associated with the presumed conflict between Genesis and Acts. After  all, said and had said can easily be the same thing. For example, if I say,  “Jim said, ‘Let’s go the movies.’” that could mean that (hypothetically)  Jim and I are on the phone talking about where to go, and Melissa is next to  me wondering what Jim’s suggestion is. I say “Jim said...” In this case,  “said” is virtually real-time.

However, imagine that Jim, Melissa and  I made a plan on Monday to do something on Friday. On Tuesday, Jim told me  “Let’s go to the movies.” On Thursday, Melissa asks me what we’re doing with  Jim on Friday, and I say, “Jim said, ‘Let’s go to the movies.’” That isn’t  real-time. You told me something in the more distant past, that I am conveying  to Melissa in real-time. Now, I could have said, “Jim HAD said, ‘Let’s go to  the movies.’” but it’s not necessary.

I think the bigger point of  conflict between Acts 7 and Gen 11 & 12 is in 12:4 (ESV and NIV), “Abram  was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.”

Given that  Terah was 205 when he died (Genesis 11:32) and 70 when he “became the father of Abram, Nahor,  and Haran” (Genesis 11:26), there seems to be a mathematical conflict between Genesis and Acts.  If Terah was 70 when he had his sons and Abram was 75 when he left, then that’s only 145 years. Yet Terah died at 205. What gives?

The math only becomes a  conflict, however, if you assume that Abram, Nahor, and Haran are triplets,  which is not necessary, nor likely. The better interpretation is that “became the father  of Abram, Nahor, and Haran” is idiomatic, and means that Terah became a father  for the first time at age 70.

Some might say that Abram being listed first  would indicate he was the first-born, which would still lead to a mathematical conflict. But  that is not a necessary or accurate assumption to make. The same language is  used in Genesis 5 to talk about Noah becoming “the father of Shem, Ham, and  Japheth.” Yet, in chapter 9, Ham is clearly identified as the youngest son, even  though he is listed second in Genesis 5.

This interpretation, which is  perfectly reasonable, means there is no conflict between Genesis 12 and Acts 7.

Hope this helps!

Can I Really Trust the Bible?

The church I pastor, Grace Church in Racine, WI, has begun our Read the Bible 2012 campaign, and I thought it might be helpful to provide you with some thoughts about the trustworthiness of Scripture, specifically the New Testament.

Below are common questions people have regarding the veracity of the New Testament writings. This list is not exhaustive by any means, but does address some of the basic questions and even objections people have about the New Testament. Following each question is a brief answer reflecting the common beliefs of scholars, Christian and non.  You will also find a list of resources for further study. Happy reading!

1) What about the number of copying errors in the New Testament manuscripts?  Doesn’t the number of errors suggest that the documents are less than trustworthy?

There are more than 200,000 “variants,” or differences among existing manuscripts. This number may appear high at first, but understanding what constitutes a variant actually downplays their significance. For example, if a word is misspelled in 2,000 manuscripts it is counted as 2,000 variants. 

Additionally, many variants deal with the sequence of words in a given phrase or sentence.  A scribe—a person who copied a manuscript—may write the words out of sequence by accident.  This may sound like a major mistake, but when one understands that the language of the New Testament writings, Greek, is not an “inflected” language, the importance of these variations diminishes.  English is an inflected language, meaning that the order of words in a sentence plays a significant role in its meaning.  For example, it is one thing to say, “People eat meat from animals,” and another thing entirely to say that “Animals eat meat from people.”  In Greek, however, one word functions as the object of the sentence no matter where it falls in the sequence. So the meaning of a sentence isn’t distorted by words being out of sequence.  Most of the variations in New Testament manuscripts are differences in sequence and spelling, and have little to no impact on the meaning of a passage.

2) How did the early church decide which books would be considered authoritative? 

The early church considered three criteria when deciding if a book was considered authoritative.  First, it had to be authored by an apostle, someone who was an eyewitness to Jesus’ life and ministry (Matthew, John, Peter, etc.), or someone who was a close friend or student of an apostle (Mark and Luke).

Second, the document had to be consistent with the “rule of faith,” or the basic message of Christianity that had become normative within the church at large.

Third, the document needed to be one that was in use by the church in a wide geographical range.  In other words, the book had to be one that fueled not only a local expression of the faith, but was one that was already operating as authoritative in many places.

3) Why were some books, like the Gospel of Thomas, left out and others included?

First, it is inaccurate to believe that the collection of scriptures we call the Bible was decided in a series of votes more akin to politics than careful study and practical faith.  Consider the words of the late Bruce Metzger, a preeminent New Testament historian and translator.  When the canon was decided,

It merely ratified what the general sensitivity of the church had already decided.  The canon is a list of authoritative books more than it is an authoritative list of books.

For somebody now to say that the canon emerged only after councils and synods made these pronouncements would be like saying, “Let’s get several academies of musicians to make a pronouncement that the music of Bach and Beethoven is wonderful.”

Second, there are many who believe that certain ancient writings, like the Gospel of Thomas, were left out of the Bible because they didn’t paint Jesus in the most flattering light.  This is not historically accurate, however.  Other gospels, like the Gospel of Judas, were written no earlier than the second century and as late as the sixth—hundreds of years following the death of Christ.  These gospels, despite their names, give very little information that would help identify authorship.

These other writings also do not seem to match up with the teachings of Jesus and the general Christian ethic espoused in the writings in the New Testament.  For example, the Gospel of Thomas, which is not a book in the New Testament, contains many of the sayings of Jesus that are recorded in other gospels.  But it also contains statements of Jesus that undermine the value of women[1] and promote pantheism, the belief God is in all matter and all matter contains God.  This is clearly not the same Jesus we see in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Resources for Further Study

F. F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988).

Bruce M. Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987).

Bruce M. Metzger, The Text of the New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995).

“The Documentary Evidence” chapter in Lee Strobel’s, The Case for Christ (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998).

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[1] The Gospel of Thomas quotes Jesus this way: “Women are not worthy of life,” and “I shall lead her in order to make her a male, so that she too may become a living spirit.”  Surely, this is not the same counter-cultural Jesus we see rescuing a prostitute from her accusers and spending time with the woman at the well despite her "less than human" standing among her 1^st century culture.

Other Good 3:16s

John 3:16 is probably the most famous passage in the Bible, and certainly the New Testament. And it is a gospel-goldmine:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Doesn't get much better than that!

But there are some other quality 3:16s throughout the New Testament. In fact, half of the books that qualify (they actually have a 3:16) has a gem in the 3:16 position. The number 3:16 is like the quarterback of the team of verses in the New Testament.

Here are the noteworthy 3:16s:

1 John 3:16 - My personal favorite: This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

Luke 3:16 - John answered them all saying, "I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."

Acts 3:16 - By faith in the name of Jesus, this [crippled beggar] whom you seen and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see. 

1 Corinthians 3:16 - Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

2 Corinthians 3:16 - But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 

Ephesians 3:16 - I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.

Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 - Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. 

1 Timothy 3:16 - Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

2 Timothy 3:16 - All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

James 3:16 - For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

Revelation 3:16 - So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

You Never Marry The Right Person

While reading through Tim and Kathy Keller's The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God, I was struck by one subheading in chapter one, "The Secret of Marriage."

You Never Marry the Right Person

Previously in chapter one, the Kellers effectively make the point that the stumbling block to marriage for many people today is not just a fear of commitment but a deeper desire to be alone and unchanged. The conclusion, the authors say, is that modern people avoid monogamy and deep commitment because they have an overly idealized picture of what a marriage partner is: "A woman who is a novelist/astronaut with a background in fashion modeling, or the equivalent in a man."

Then comes the subheading, "You Never Marry the Right Person." Here are some excerpts from this section that I found particularly enlightening, especially as I prepare to preach on Ephesians 5:2-33 this weekend.

The moment you marry someone, you and your spouse begin to change in profound ways, and you can't know ahead of time what those changes will be. So you don't know, you can't know, who your spouse will actually be in the future until you get there....

Over the years you will go through seasons in which you have to learn to love a person who you didn't marry, who is something of a stranger. You will have to make changes that you don't want to make, and so will your spouse. The journey may eventually take you into a strong, tender, joyful marriage. But it is not because you married the perfectly compatible person. That person doesn't exist.

Once we read it stated so plainly, those of us who are married--and take it seriously--immediately understand the logic. Every marriage is constantly in flux because the two people are constantly changing. As well, and most significantly, every husband and wife are profoundly broken by sin. Therefore, when a husband stands before his wife, and a wife stands before her husband, they are very likely to be so twisted up by the roaring tornado of sin, that they are hardly recognizable to each other.

It's no wonder then that Paul says in Ephesians 5:31-32:

'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This is a profound mystery...

Happy Birthday, C. S. Lewis

Today (November 29) is the birthday of C. S. Lewis (1898-1963). In honor of the poet, writer, theologian, and apologist, I want to point you to a short post by Fred Sanders on Lewis's birthday in 2010. Here's to "the professor of English who just wanted to be left alone with his books and his handful of bookish friends." Thanks be to God for exploding "Jack" Lewis's worldview, and thanks be to God for using Jack to explode ours.

It’s remarkable how much good C. S. Lewis accomplished through his writing. He has been a constant point of reference for a certain type of Christian academic, and his influence is hardly fading in our time. Part of the Lewis magic is that he wrote in so many genres: If you have a taste for Lewis, you can always be reading something by him without wearying of it. Too much Narnia? Switch to the apologetics. Not buying the argumentative style? Check out the imaginative fiction like The Great Divorce or Pilgrim’s Regress. There are poems, science fiction, occasional essays, literary binges, spiritual counsel, and a great mass of letters.

 Read the rest of Lewis's birthday post by Fred Sanders .