Eternal truth

This last week I spent several hours mulling over and researching the debate over biblical inerrancy. Half of the paper was a critique of Stephen L. Andrew's article on the subject (check it out here) and the second half was my personal, supported theological stance. The debate we were looking at was not whether the Bible is inerrant, but, within the Evangelical Christian realm, to what extent do people believe it is inerrant. It was both tedious and interesting at the same time. In the end, I didn't change my stance much, but did have to consider how important the topic is. Can we have faith in God without His inspired Word? Can we live a daily, godly life without its guidance? Is an inspired, inerrant Bible necessary for witnessing and conversion? It's possible His Word goes hand-in-hand with our actions.

I lean toward it being a necessity. Written scripture has been available and used for thousands of years. The apostles, Jesus, and O.T. writers all referenced other scripture and the law repeatedly. The Bible says that all scripture is useful for convicting, encouraging, and equipping us. And even though God is capable of guiding His people without it, He has clearly chosen to reveal Himself and His will in written form.

I'm also learning that even though a lot of the subjects we discuss in this Theology class don't actually reach to practical living, studying and exploring them has encouraged me and built my faith up.

I pasted my article below.

Serving my purpose

Today I did something I've never done before. I shared the entire gospel with someone and didn't end up just debating about pointless Christianity/religion/God subjects. I have always had the desire to tell people about how and why I chose to follow Jesus (that's probably a "duh" thing for a Christian to say), but have never been able to get the conversation to focus on the individual's need. It always ends up just being a theological discussion of whether or not the bible can say it's the only holy book, God is loving, abortion is wrong, etc., etc., etc that doesn't actually challenge the other person to consider their position with God and their eternal destination.

However, the Evangelism course I took thru Liberty University really equipped me to overcome the typical fears and difficulties involved with sharing the true, life-saving gospel. I was actually required to witness and then do a report on it to complete the class. I had intended to witness to someone else, but God led me to witness to someone completely different. It felt great to witness. I always thought it would be scary and nerve wracking - it wasn't. I can only say I'm so thankful for being taught a proper way to present the vital facts and for being forced to do it. I think it's like any other act - the more it's practiced the better I'll be at it (or just more comfortable).

What a week!

This week has been just plain rough. After last weeks revelations and questions, I'm trying to ensure my priorities are in order. It seems I'm over tasked with school because I'm now a week behind in the work. I keep telling myself I'd rather get a C in school and an A in family/husbandry (I really don't think that's a word). With God's grace, I'll be successful and bring God more glory by it.

We got the home school curriculum and Candi is doing an amazing job as always. I just don't know that I would ever do as well as she does in planning and completing plans for our kids. i don't care what anyone in the world says - Candi has the most important job in the world and she is an absolute success at it. I hope to give her a raise soon (depending on how our stock goes this quarter :) ). We're going to teach the kids year round so we're not actually doing a daily-planned lesson. We (by that I mean Candi) just work on a little bit each day and the kids really enjoy it. Nori is happy as a clam being home schooled; Bubba is taking some adjusting. He really likes the social time, a lot. Candi's just making a big effort to invite his friends from school over and getting out during the day to visit other friends.

The only real "stressor" right now is that I'm getting to the final assignments of the Evangelism class, which means I am going to have to go witness to someone. I don't think I'm going start with a stranger. I know some folks at works that I really care about and would probably find it "fun" to be the guinea pig for my assignment. I truly believe I should be able and willing to witness at any time, any place because I believe the saving gospel is the most important message and is meant for everyone in the world. I just need practice and experience so I'm starting small. Here's a question - should Christian's do the door-to-door witnessing that a lot of other religions do? Is it effective and is it biblical (in that there is a biblical precedent for it)?