These Things Were Written That You Might Believe

8 in 10 individuals who were hospitalized by COVID-19 said they wished they had used the Bible more.’

I posted this originally in the Spring of 2021. Maybe it's a good time to remind ourselves of these things at the beginning of 2023.

As we begin a New Year Reachout Trust is committed to encouraging Bible reading, which is in a poor state across the church. We have more and better access to a dizzying choice of Bibles, electronic Bibles having become very popular over recent years. It is reported YouVersion’s Bible App gives us free access to 1,839 Bible versions in 1,275 languages.

And yet...

Christianity Today reported Bible reading in the US has fallen away during the pandemic:

‘Between early 2019 and 2020, the percentage of US adults who say they use the Bible daily dropped from 14 percent to 9 percent, according to the State of the Bible 2020 report released by the Barna Group and the American Bible Society (ABS).’

This is dissonance on a grand scale. A feast of the best things is provided but people sitting at table demand fast food and additives. The troubling headline above comes from that Christianity Today report, saying, ‘Individuals were most likely to report an increase in Bible engagement if a family member in their household or a neighbor died from COVID-19. 8 in 10 individuals who were hospitalized by COVID-19 said they wished they had used the Bible more.’

In January 2019, Christianity reported that ‘most Christian millennials in the UK (51%) engage with the Bible a few times a year, or less. Only 9% read the Bible every day and a mere 13% look at the scriptures “a few times a week”.

God-breathed

We are told, “All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16)

The term ‘God-breathed’, or divinely breathed, gives the clear sense of Scripture being the word of God Himself, God’s words to man and through man, rather than simply man’s attempt at writing his own account unaided. The Bible is God’s Word to us today.

When the Sadducees attempted to catch Jesus out on a point of law he immediately turned to Scripture, saying, ‘You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.’ (Mt.22:29) How often have I spoken to people caught out on a cult question for no other reason than they don’t know the Scriptures? Christians themselves can end up believing the wackiest things because they don’t read their Bible. The Bible is our resource in witnessing, in understanding Gods purpose in creation and redemption.

We are also told that, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31)

Much more material, then, was available to the disciples who witnessed and knew much more than they have passed on. However, in the purposes of God, these things were written ‘that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ’. The purpose and end of Scripture is that we may believe aright, not simply that we get our account straight, but ‘that [we] may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing [we] may have life in him.’

The Bible is God’s Word to the lost, that they may believe and be saved, to the saved that we may grow in the things of God. Scripture is there to give us encouragement and hope (Romans 15:4). The events recounted there are for examples and warnings (1 Corinthians 10:11), that we may believe in Jesus and, in believing, know life through him. Peter writes:

‘His divine power has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his glory and excellence.’ (2 Peter 1:3). The Bible tells us of him. Don’t wait until you’re loved ones are fretting around your hospital bed before you pick up the book. Pick up your Bible and read it; today, tomorrow, every day, and find sustenance for your life, assurance for your soul, and a hope of eternity in his comforting, encouraging Word.

Obama's mother posthumously baptized into LDS Church - Salt Lake Tribune

In the wake of his remarkable success it seemed that the world and his wife wanted to claim President Obama as their own with even an Irish connection being dug up. Now the Mormons have got in on the act by posthumously baptising his mother. They have in the past upset the Jewish community, the Catholic Church and now the American President with this wacky and unbiblical practice but there is no indication that they will review it. And, of course, it is always someone else’s fault and they promise a thorough inquiry to uncover the real culprits. Maybe they should try looking in the mirror. President Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, who died in 1995, was baptized posthumously into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints last year during her son's campaign, according to Salt Lake City-based researcher Helen Radkey. The ritual, known as “baptism for the dead,” was done June 4 in the Provo temple, and another LDS temple rite, known as the “endowment,” was

Mormon Christians? Whats in a Name?

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You know those moments when you look at something you’ve looked at a thousand times before and suddenly see something new? I was looking at a blog I found via the Google Blog Alerts service and it told the familiar story of the Mormon “ Plan of Salvation”; you can read it here. There really was nothing surprising until I started thinking about what people might think if a family they knew conducted themselves the way the Mormon “family of God” do in this story. People from abusive backgrounds have problems enough with the idea of God as a Father but this story would put anyone off the idea forever! As I recount this story think about what the typical dad would do as his kids are growing up and compare it with this “exalted man.” According to Mormonism “ God created our spirits” and we lived with him in a pre-mortal existence (Mormons say “pre-existence” but it is not possible to pre-exist, i.e. to exist before you exist. The noun “existence” has to be have the prefix “pre” othe

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