Biblical Truth

I had the privilege of being part of a special ceremony last week. It was of a close friend and his son who was about to graduate from high school. There were close to forty men there to affirm him and to speak into his life and what some of the challenges he will face as he goes off to college.

One of the men brought up the fact that in today’s society, we are losing more and more of what it means to be a Christian man and the implications. Statistics show that only one out of ten men in church today has a Biblical Worldview.
What is a Biblical Worldview? George Barna has put together what he believes are the eight criteria to having a Biblical Worldview. They are:
1. Belief in absolute truth as defined by Scripture.
2. Accuracy of the Word of God. In other words, the inerrancy of Scripture.
3. Sinless nature of Jesus Christ.
4. The literal existence of Satan.
5. The Omnipotence of God or God is all powerful.
6. The Omniscience of God or God is all knowing.
7. Salvation by grace alone.
8. Personal Responsibility to Evangelism.
I would like to add two more things: 1) The Omnipresence of God or God is everywhere; and 2) The existence of Hell.
It has been hard for me to believe this statistic, but as I read how not even clergy in many of the denominations have a biblical worldview. This is exactly why we are seeing the local church diminish in numbers.
As men, we need to stand for truth, Biblical Truth. And we must never, ever waver. I want you to look at the ten items of criteria and ask yourself if you belief them or not. If not, ask yourself why not. These are nonnegotiable.
The old hymn says it best:

Stand up; stand up for Jesus,
ye soldiers of the cross.
Lift high His royal banner;
it must not suffer loss.
From vict’ry unto vict’ry,
His army shall He lead.
Till ev’ry foe is vanquished,
and Christ is Lord indeed.

Brothers, raise that royal banner and stand for Biblical truth!
Blessings!

Who's your Barnabas

After Saul’s (Paul) conversion, Paul had a huge problem. He had no credibility, or in today’s lingo, he had no street cred. Saul was well known over the region as a zealot, a guy with a lot of passion. He hated Christians. He wanted them all tortured and killed. But that was all before his trip to Damascus.

Imagine Osama bin Laden coming out of a cave in the Middle East and claiming he was now a believer in Christ. I think most of us would think he was up to something. That’s exactly how Paul situation was. Nobody believed him. He just needed that one person of influence to believe in him and give him a chance. This is where Barnabas comes in. Let’s look at Acts 9:26-28. When he (Paul) came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

The name Barnabas means Encourager and he lived up to his namesake. This was exactly what Paul needed, someone to vouch for him. It is obvious Barnabas carried some clout with the disciples. All of us have had at least one Barnabas in our lives. For me, one that stands out is a pastor friend that saw something in me several years ago. It was a time in my life where God was doing a huge job of restoration. I thought I was damaged goods. This friend saw beyond the damage and saw a lot of potential in me. He started to introduce me to others and spoke highly of me. He even gave me the opportunity to get into fulltime ministry, and in spite of the lack of any formal education.

Which brings me to you, who has been your Barnabas’? Who gave you a chance when no one else did? Who saw something in you that nobody else did?

Let’s take it even further. Who have you been a Barnabas to? Who can you be a Barnabas/ Encourager to? Who needs you to vouch for them? You never know, you may be able to give credibility to the next giant in the faith!

My prayer for you is to be an encouragement or Barnabas to someone out there. Blessings!