How to Know that the Bible is True?

How do we know that the Bible is true?

This is one of the most important question that have ever asked in the history of mankind.

Answer this question, and you will be able to answer about the creation of of the world, the existence of God, the death of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, the miracles of the prophets, and most relevantly: the purpose of our lives on earth.

According to RC Sproul's book (Now, That's a Good Question), if we want to test whether something is true, we are asking a technical question in epistemology.

How do we test claims of truth? There is a certain kind of truth that we test through:
- observation
- experimentation
- eyewitness
- examination
- scientific evidence

As far as the history of Jesus is concerned. as far as we know any in history, we want to check the stories of Scriptures using those means by which historical evidence can be tested - through archaeology, for example. There are certain elements of the scriptures, such as historical claims, that are to be measured by the common standards of historiography.

Out of the multitude of archaeological discoveries related to the Bible, consider a few examples to illustrate the remarkable external substantiation of biblical claims. Excavations at Nuzi (1925-41), Mari (discovered in 1933), and Alalakh (1937-39; 1946-49) provide helpful background information that fits well with the Genesis stories of the patriarchal period. The Nuzi tablets and Mari letters illustrate the patriarchal customs in great detail, and the Ras Shamra tablets discovered in ancient Ugarit in Syria shed much light on Hebrew prose and poetry and Canaanite culture. The Ebla tablets discovered recently in northern Syria also affirm the antiquity and accuracy of the Book of Genesis.

Quoted from https://bible.org/article/how-accurate-bible 

Secondly, we can test the claims of truth through the test of rationality. Is it logically consistent? It is coherent?

Note that the Bible is a compilation of 66 books, written by 40 authors, over 1500 years - but with consistent focus about Jesus! That's amazing.

It's astonishing that the Bible has literally of testable historical prophecies, cases in which events were clearly foretold, and both the foretelling and the fulfilment are a matter of historical record. The very dimension of the sheer fulfilment of of prophecy of the Old Testament Scriptures should be enough to convince anyone that we are dealing with a supernatural piece of literature.

The prophet Isaiah prophesied about the birth of Jesus, 700 years before the birth of Jesus.

David wrote about the crucifixion of Jesus about 1000 years before Jesus was crucified, and 500 years before the first crucifixion (497 BC). Isaiah talked about it as well.

Thirdly, is there any external test about the validity of the Bible? The answer is a resounding yes!
Especially about the New Testament, there are many extrabiblical references about the accuracy of the New Testament. It's very important for us to be very sure of the accuracy of the New Testament (especially about the four gospels), because it talks about Jesus that can changed our lives forever.

The historicity of Jesus Christ is well-established by early Roman, Greek, and Jewish sources, and these extrabiblical writings affirm the major details of the New Testament portrait of the Lord. The first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus made specific references to John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, and James in his Antiquities of the Jews. In this work, Josephus gives us many background details about the Herods, the Sadducees and Pharisees, the high priests like Annas and Caiaphas, and the Roman emperors mentioned in the gospels and Acts.

We find another early secular reference to Jesus in a letter written a little after A.D. 73 by an imprisoned Syrian named Mara Bar-Serapion. This letter to his son compares the deaths of Socrates, Pythagoras, and Christ. Other first- and second-century writers who mention Christ include the Roman historians Cornelius Tacitus (Annals) and Suetonius (Life of Claudius, Lives of the Caesars), the Roman governor Pliny the Younger (Epistles), and the Greek satirist Lucian (On the Death of Peregrine). Jesus is also mentioned a number of times in the Jewish Talmud.

Quoted from https://bible.org/article/how-accurate-bible 

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Watch below's video for some of the best explanations about the Bible:

Ravi Zacharias: How Do We Know the Bible is True

Pastor Robert Morris: How Do I Know? - The Bible Is True

John Piper: God’s Peculiar Glory: How We Can Know the Bible Is True

Note:
epistemology
- the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.

coherent

- logical; consistent and orderly

archaeology

- the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains.

Resources Link:

https://bible.org/article/how-accurate-bible

http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/gods-peculiar-glory

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t003.html

https://www.gotquestions.org/is-the-Bible-true.html

https://essentialbible.org/2016/06/top-10-reasons-the-bible-is-true/

http://www.gracechapelsomd.org/books/The_New_Evidence_That_Demands_A_Verdict.pdf

Easter - Triumph in Tragedy

Easter is coming.
For this year, Easter will fall on 16th April 2017.

While most of the world will take this time to have fun with Easter Bunny, Christians around the world take this time to reflect on the salvation that we received through grace by the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a time where we can be thankful of the victory that we gain in Christ.

For Christians, Easter is day where we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's better known as Resurrection Sunday.

To reflect more on the victory of Christ, below's link has a good reading from RBC website:

http://cdn.rbcintl.org/cdn/pdf/sg_TriumphInTragedy.pdf

I hope that the Lord will bring much encouragement for you during this time of Easter reflection ;)

Happy reading, and of course, Happy Resurrection Sunday everyone!

Mark 16:6

"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

How to Calculate Personal Loan

This is a page where you can use to calculate personal loan.

http://www.calculator.com.my/personal-loan#.WJ1qDm994dU

Note: It is always not recommended to take personal loan. Personal loan has one of the highest interest rate. Please calculate properly before decide to take on one.

Debt in Malaysia

The debt in Malaysia is increasing every second.

By average, every Malaysian in Feb 2017 is having RM22,00 of debt.

Malaysia recorded a government debt equivalent to 53.20 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2016. Government Debt to GDP in Malaysia averaged 48.43 percent from 1990 until 2016, reaching an all time high of 80.74 percent in 1990 and a record low of 31.80 percent in 1997.

It is not good to have so much debt.

People with debt will always be the slave to the lender.

Decide today to pay off your debt as early as possible.

What are the common reasons people got into debt?

1. Buying too expensive car

2. Buying house that they can't afford

3. Not paying off the credit card debt

4. Taking personal loan due to careless spending / gambling

4. Taking up business loan without proper planning

Plan your finance and expenses to pay off your debt as soon as possible.

Resources:
http://www.nationaldebtclocks.org/debtclock/malaysia
https://debtclock.tv/world/malaysia/
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/malaysia/external-debt

Biola University - Financial Stewardship

[BBST 450] Investing and Ethics - Guy Baker

Guy Baker: Compound Interest [Financial Stewardship]

Guy Baker: Investing and Risk [Financial Stewardship]

Financial Axioms - by Bill Hybel

This week, Bill taught through the following 13 financial axioms to help guide the way we relate to money:

1. There is a huge difference between spending money and saving money. This is an axiom Bill’s father taught him. The basic idea is that when you spend money, money moves away from you and when you save it, money comes toward you and stays. When you go on a shopping spree and buy things at a discounted price, even though you may have spent less than you anticipated, you still spent money—you did not save money!

2. Margin matters. Keeping your expenses below your income helps create margin so that you have the ability to save and give more.

3. You can admire something without having to acquire it.

4. Learn to be content with God’s provision for your life. The key question here is whether we can be content with God’s current provision for us. In Philippians 4:11–13, we read: I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

5. Debt is telling God that His current level of provision is not enough and then arranging how to get more for yourself.

6. The borrower is a slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7). The Bible does not forbid debt altogether, but instructs us to stay away from debt that enslaves us. Christ followers have freedom and yet, we can continue to suffer under the crushing bondage of debt and not feel the true liberation Christ offers.

7. There is enormous power in advanced decision-making. Recall that as Bill taught last week, God has given us dominion over money. When we decide in advance where our money will go (10% giving, 15% saving, 75% spending) we are more likely to exercise that dominion well.

8. Arrange accountability. Have someone in your life who can hold you accountable to how you desire to use your money.

9. Never buy something you could not freely share with others. If you seek to buy things that you would never share, you are too attached to those things and they have an unhealthy hold on you.

10. Renting is a beautiful concept. For things you only need once in a while, renting allows you not to have to maintain or carry the burden of ownership.

11. Set financial goals.

12. Tip others as you would like to be tipped if you were in their shoes.

13. Train up your children in the ways of good money management and when they are old they will not depart from it.


Watch the sermon video by Bill Hybel. It's inspiring and helpful and full of wisdom.

https://willowcreek.tv/sermons/south-barrington/2017/01/financial-axioms/#top 

Money Behaves - by Bill Hybel

This week, Bill taught an overview of God’s plan for how we are to manage our money. Despite the way we often talk or hear about money, money is actually compliant and agreeable. It will do everything we tell it to do. It never misbehaves or acts defiantly.

Early in His ministry, Jesus warned His followers about the deceitfulness of money (Mark 4:19), and we all know that money can trick us into thinking it has a mind of its own. But we should not buy into the lie that money is beyond our ability to control.

In Genesis 1:28, we read: God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

God gave human beings dominion over the earth. This is still the charge God gives us today, calling us to exercise dominion over the things in our lives—our skills, gifts, relationships, and our money.

So many lives are decimated by money problems and people invariably blame money for their problems when, in reality, it is they who made poor decisions, telling their money exactly where to go—to another vacation instead of savings, to an impulse buy instead of the mortgage payment, etc.

There are three “buckets” into which we can put our earnings—spending, savings, and giving.

Each time we receive earnings, we have two decisions to make:
1. What percentage of our earnings goes where; and
2. In what order we move our money.

The average American puts 130% of their earnings into spending, 4-5% into savings, and 2-3% into giving. (The percentages don’t add up to 100% because people go into debt to make these work.) And the average American moves their money to spending first, savings second, and giving third. Any objective person looking at these percentages and priorities would think money misbehaves or the money manager has abandoned their dominion over money!

What is God’s plan for our money?
Giving, saving, spending (instead of spending, saving, giving).

1 Giving In various passages of Scripture (Exodus 20:3, Matthew 6:33, and Matthew 22:37–39), we see God’s desire to be first in all things, including our money. In the Old Testament, the people were called to honor God with their first fruits (Proverbs 3:9), not their leftovers. Thus, Scripture makes it clear that when we direct our money, we are to honor God first.

2 Savings After giving first to God, under God’s plan, we are to save next. In Proverbs 21:20, we read: “foolish people spend all they earn.” By saving money first, we are honoring our own labor and setting money aside to care for ourselves and our families.

3 Spending The last bucket in God’s plan for our money is spending. Only after we have honored God and saved money for ourselves and our families, should we spend money to take care of bills, mortgage, etc.

In addition to the order being different than what is average in the United States, the percentages are different under God’s plan.

Giving: 10%
Savings: 15%
Spending: 75%

(For Savings and Spending, these are a good suggested percentage. The higher the percentage for Savings will be much better).

Giving 10% to our home church for the work of God in the world is the threshold set out in Scripture. Of course, for many of us, we cannot begin at 10% and need to work our way up to that percentage. But we can start with three, move to five, then to seven, and eventually to ten. The Holy Spirit offers support in this—as in all things.

Saving 15% of our earnings each time we are paid allows us to save wisely. The Bible does not specifically speak to a percentage, but because we are living longer, this is a wise percentage to save.
The smartest people in finance, will automate this process of saving.

Spending 75% of our earnings is the last piece. And, this goes to pay bills, but we should also know that God enjoys giving us good gifts and we should not feel guilt or shame about enjoying what He has given us. Just as an earthly parent loves seeing their children enjoy gifts, so too does our Father in heaven. We have freedom in Christ to enjoy the fruit of our labor. Further, God has also directed us to do good to others and share with them (Hebrews 13:16).

Why do so few people get on God’s plan if it’s so simple? Most of us need a “conversion” when it comes to money. We need the Holy Spirit to convict our hearts about the way we handle money. Indeed, money management provides a transparent view into our relationship with God. Maybe today is the day for a conversion when it comes to money.

Watch the video sermon by Bill Hybel below. It's so inspiring and helpful.

Link: https://willowcreek.tv/sermons/south-barrington/2017/01/money-behaves/#top