It was after midnight when we finally pulled to a stop at the end of the road. We had been watching the fire rip through the high country for over an hour as we drove next to the Kings River.

Our crew truck passed others looking up as the flames devoured acres of ponderosa pine and manzanita brush a dozen miles and several thousand feet up the steep canyon wall. Some of the on-lookers seemed afraid but all were impressed with the power of the blaze and the glow that lit up the night sky.

One huge difference set our thoughts of the fire apart from the on-lookers. They were wondering if this fire would interrupt their vacation plans camping in the Sequoia National Forest. We were calculating how difficult it was going to be to walk to the fire’s edge and how scared we would be when we arrived.

They were tourists; we were the Fulton Hotshots—one of a handful of elite firefighting crews from Southern California. The hotter the fire, the more dangerous the terrain, the more sure we were that we would join the other hotshot crews of the west on the fire line.

Bill, our grizzled superintendent, could see and feel our discouragement and fear in the way we unloaded the truck. There wasn’t the usual hustle and small talk. It was a long way up that mountain, and we were beat. This morning they told us we would get our first day off in three weeks. But then this thing started and they changed their minds. Instead we loaded up and rode for four hours.

To make matters worse, we knew that the helicopters wouldn’t be flying for another five or six hours. We would have to haul ourselves up the face of Kings Canyon with our food, our saws, our fire shelters, our tools, and our water.

And this was a ferocious timber fire burning through the crowns of hundred-foot trees. A fireman’s worst nightmare.

“Gentlemen,” Bill looked at us. “You know how we’re going to get up that mountain?”

Nobody said a word. (Danger does that to you. You just shut up and listen.)

“Here’s what we’re going to do.” Bill slung his Swedish brush hook over his shoulder, picked up his shovel and said, “We’re going to put one foot in front of the other. Follow me.” And he started up the trail.

And that’s what we did. We put one foot front of the other, climbed that mountain, and put that fire out.

Bill wasn’t asking us to take responsibility for the whole thing—the mountain, the fire, the logistics, the strategy. That was his problem. He was just asking us to take a few more steps and follow him.

Friend, I don’t know what your personal mountain is today or what wildfire threatens your life right now. What I do know is that if you’re like me, you’ve forgotten that the Lord Jesus isn’t asking you to solve the cosmic problems of life, to fix a bunch of other people, or take responsibility for His business.

He’s just asking you to take a few more steps, and follow Him.

You can do that.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10:27)

“Then Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord considered his response of faith

 as proof of genuine loyalty (evidence of steadfast commitment, righteousness).” (Genesis 15:6) 

Genesis provides the historical foundation for the entire Bible and the basis for the Pentateuch. Moses, the author (Matthew 19:8; Mark 7:10), traces the history of the universe from God’s perspective. The account is selective according to Moses’ purpose to encourage the Israelites assembled on the Plains of Moab to trust in their faithful and omnipotent God enough to conquer the Promised Land.

The events Moses records in Genesis take the reader from Eden to Egypt and cover thousands of years from Creation to Abram’s family (1-11) and then the 300 years from Abram’s covenant with God to the death of Joseph (12-50).

Moses moves the story forward through the phrase “the generations of” (toledot in Hebew, and translated “the account” or “record). It divides the book 10 times (36:9 repeats 36:1) beginning with the person named, who may not be the primary character of the section, and closes with that persons death (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27; 25:12; 25:19; 36:1; 37:1).

Genesis introduces the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3) as God’s solution to a self-destructing humanity bent on devastating destruction. The first eleven chapters surface the desperate need of the Covenant. The remaining chapters unfold the outworking of the covenant through the lives of the four Patriarchs of the Hebrew faith—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.

God is the luminary of Genesis as the narrative reveals His place in the origin of the universe and the birth and life of the believing community He powerfully and faithfully delivers. Of His own choice and due only to His love and mercy, He established Israel as the means of blessing the undeserving families of the earth in response to Abrahams’ faith.

Imagine the impact this view of history had on the children of the generation that refused to believe God at Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 14). Far more than a gaggle of slaves slinking back home. Moses wanted them to see themselves as the chosen people of the living God with a glorious and eternal destiny! Genesis, the book of beginnings, has encouraged believers since the post-Exodus generation by providing God’s exciting perspective on their role in history:

Genesis is a theological presentation of selected facts and stories from history to expose humanity’s disastrous revolt against our Creator and His merciful response.

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“For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction,

 so that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures

 we may have hope” (Romans 15:4).

We’re all born with questions in our heart that the two most basic sources of human knowledge—reason and experience—cannot answer: Who am I? Why am I here? Does anyone care about me, I mean really? History seems out of control, where is this world headed?

God in His grace has provided another source of knowledge—revelation—to answer the questions of humanity concerning meaning and significance in life. The Bible claims to be God’s special revelation to the beloved centerpiece of His creation—men and women, boys and girls.

Though God demonstrates that He’s there through the general revelation of His creation (Psalm 19:1-6) and has given every human heart the knowledge that He exists (Romans 1:18), His special revelation is His more direct communication to humanity. This may involve dreams, angels, and visions, but we receive special revelation primarily and most clearly through His Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2) and in the written words, paragraphs, and stories in the 66 Books of the Bible.

Many people, even sincere Christians, struggle as we read through the Bible. We may be familiar with a few of the stories and we may have heard sermons about a number of passages. But we find it difficult to put the pieces of the Bible together and feel lost when we’re trying to read through an entire Book of the Bible.

What we need is the big picture of the Bible—a broader understanding of how the Bible is put together and how the events, people, and places connect. This is what Bible students call a synthetic study of the Scriptures. We’re dedicating two years to a synthetic study of the Word of God—all 66 Books. And it begins today with this overarching sentence on the Bible:

The Bible contains 66 Books, 39 of those comprise the Old Testament, which begins with the 5 Books of the Pentateuch:

I. The Old Testament was written to instruct us and give us enduring and encouraging hope (Romans 15:4).

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Every word—Spiritual Words

Second Peter 1:21 tells us how God used the human writers to produce the Bible. Read it several times:

“For no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke for God.” (NET Bible)

“For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (NKJV)

The verb translated “carried along” or “moved” is illustrated by its use in Acts 27:15, “When the ship was caught in [the hurricane-force wind, v 14] and could not head into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.” Though the sailors were sailing the ship, they couldn’t resist the wind that moved or carried the ship along.

This is extremely important to our view of the Scriptures. The 66 Books of the Bible were written over a period of 1500 years by more than 40 authors whose backgrounds could hardly have been more diverse. Each author was speaking to a specific audience with a specific message for a specific life-situation. But the words they actually put down on the page were the words that God’s Spirit moved them to write down, His Spirit was “carrying” their pen “along” as they communicated the message God put on their heart.

This doesn’t mean that they were in some type of trance. Their mind and emotions were fully engaged and God used all of their faculties and their situation to make sure that the words they actually wrote down were His choice of words to accomplish His purpose.

I love it that the words I read this morning during my quiet time were the words God wanted me to read because He and only He knows the words I need to follow Christ!

Question: In the final analysis, who is the Author of the Scriptures? 

God’s words to you—the Bible

About forty men wrote the Bible over a period of approximately 1,500 years. Yet the Bible has one great theme and central figure—Jesus Christ. All of this would be impossible unless the Bible had one Author—God Himself.

When I read my Bible I have every confidence that I’m reading the words God moved men through His Spirit to put on the page.

Here is the primary verse that gives me this confidence:

2 Timothy 3:16 says all the words are breathed by God Himself.

Read 2 Timothy 3:16 very carefully: Every Scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness.

Inspiredcomes from a Greek word meaning “God-breathed.” This tells us that God breathed out words and they became Scripture.

Second Timothy 3:117 teaches that the entire Bible, every word in the original writing, came from God in order to show us how to live.

Though human authors wrote the texts, the Bible originated as an action of God who literally “breathed” it out.

There are three popular views of how much of the Bible is inspired by God. According to 2 Timothy 3:16, which is correct?

1. Some of the Bible is inspired by God.
2. All of it is inspired by God.
3. Only parts that speak to you in a personal way are inspired by God.

Question: Why do you think it’s important that Christians view the words on the page of their Bible as inspired by God? (Hint, read the next verse–2 Timothy 3:17!)

If you’ve read this blog for long, know me, or are one of the dozens who have bought my books, you know that I’m a little driven.

Okay, I’m a lot driven.

Recently I was in a Tampa hotel all by myself with everything I needed as a pastor and author to get a LOT OF WORK DONE!

Internet? Check! Free wireless and my trusty MacBook Pro.

Privacy? Check! I didn’t know anyone within a hundred miles. And to make it even better, I had left my cell phone charger at home, so I had to turn it off.

Great ideas? Check! Or at least I think they’re good. I’m working on my first fiction book, another Christian book, about five blogs, doing some editing for some author/publishing friends, and have about a thousand things to do as a pastor of a healthy faith community.

Energy? Focus? Attitude?

NOT CHECK!

I was exhausted.

So, I set my alarm and went to bed…at about 5:30 PM my time!

The next day, I knew that Jesus was saying, “Way to go, Ed. Way to trust Me with your life, your time, and your passion. Now, let’s get to it!”

If Jesus seems distant to you and you’re a hard charger like me, maybe you don’t need to get another assignment done or tell someone about Jesus or even pray.

Maybe what you need to do is trust Him enough to say, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul (life) to keep.”

I’m asked that question a lot. Whether it’s a student at a Bible college, a young pastor I’m discipling, a brand new Christian, or a wounded lifetime church-goer, most people want to know, “Which translation of the Bible is best?”

I have a simple answer to that question, but it’s important to give you the background to the answer. There are three primary types of translations of the Bible:

1) Formal Translations (Word-for-Word).

These are the translations dedicated to giving the reader the “exact words” from the Old Testament Hebrew and the New Testament Greek texts. This is the type of translation I prefer for serious study. Formal translations attempt to translate the words from one language to another—word-for-word or formal equivalence. Their strength is that they are the least interpretive not only in vocabulary but also in form. The formal translators are concerned with both meaning and grammatical form. Their weakness is that they are sometimes hard to understand since they keep the historical distance from the modern reader intact, making them more difficult to read. Since the reader must interpret the word, the “literal translation” offers what it cannot deliver

The New American Standard is the most literal, but it’s so literal that it sometimes makes it hard to read in. The New King James Version, the ESV and the NET Bible are also formal. You can’t go wrong with any of these translations. My favorite is the NET Bible.

2) Dynamic Equivalence (Idea-for-Idea).

More dynamic translations strive to offer the reader an accurate representation of the ideas of the text rather than the literal wording. These attempt to capture the original text in precise modern equivalents—phrase-for-phrase. Their strength is the balance they strike between interpretation and accuracy. Since these translators are concerned primarily with meaning their sentences and paragraphs are more readable to the English reader. The corresponding weakness is that they can be highly interpretive because of choices concerning form and language. They too offer what they cannot deliver because accuracy is necessarily compromised.

The NIV is the most popular dynamic translation in the world today. I prefer the New Living Translation.

2) Paraphrase (Story-for-Story).

A paraphrase is the most readable because it doesn’t claim or strive to be accurate in the details. It’s the most interpretive and the most readable. My personal favorite is TheMessage.

So, which translation is best?

I think it’s important to use all three for Bible study. But as you read through the Bible with us over the next two years in our bible.cod series, the best translation is…

The one you’ll read!

Questions: What is your favorite translation and why? 

“We revere the Bible, but we don’t read it.”

This quote comes from George Gallup, who should know.

Tyndale House Publisher’s survey showed that 64% of Americans said they did not read the Bible because they’re too busy. 80% feel that the Scriptures are just too confusing and when they read the Bible, they don’t understand it. (The Baptist Standard, December 4, 2000)

There are many reasons why Christians today feel they’re too busy and that the Bible is too confusing to understand, but there are two that I feel the church is responsible for:

1) We’ve developed a consumer mentality in our churches.

I’m all for relevant Bible teaching. I think it’s a crime to bore people with the Word of God. And I’m all for seeker-sensitive cultures. I came to Christ during the Jesus Movement that was the ultimate seeker-sensitive revival.

But my concern is that in trying to make the church relevant and seeker-sensitive we’re listening to the wrong seekers. One of my first reactions when I attend a so-called “seeker” church is, “Show me the seeker!” Often we’re trying to please immature Christians with Sunday show-times that are more exciting than the “seeker” church down the road so that we can swell our numbers and our giving.

The last time I checked, discipleship was costly. And I’m a grace guy. I believe that eternal life is a gift freely given, but once we belong to Christ, He makes costly demands. And one of those demands is that we study His Word.

2) An overreaction to the postmodern generation.

What an arrogant lot we pastors and theologians are. We’ve decided for an entire generation that they’re too shallow, too ADD, and too Sesame-Street to sit still and actually study the Word of God.

Again, I’m all for doing whatever we need to reach the next generation. I’m a Jesus Movement rocker who was part of the generation that refused to dress up for Jesus and listen to religious elevator music.

But I’m in touch with many young and hip pastors who are filling up their churches with 20-Something’s hungry for the Word of God. My friend Britt Merrick leads one of the fastest growing movements in the world right now—Reality Churches. He teaches through the Bible, verse by verse, for 50 minutes every Sunday.

Could it be that some of the reason Americans feel they’re too busy to read the Word of God and that the Word of God is so confusing is because the pastors of America have ignored Paul’s command to Timothy to “Preach the Word”? (2 Timothy 4:2)

Questions: Do you think I’m overreacting? Would you rather have a shallow and fun church or a deep and challenging worship experience? 

I love the Beatles! But it bothers me that a survey of 1000 Americans reported that most of us can name the four Beatles, but few of us can recall even one of the Ten Commandments! (Kelton Research survey, 2007).

“Oh come on, Ed. You’re overreacting. That may be true of everyday Americans, but Christians in America know their Bible better than the Beatles.”

Really? Consider the findings of Gary Brudge, professor of New Testament studies at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. Wheaton is one of the most prestigious evangelical colleges in America. In an article published in Christianity Today in 1999, Burge exposes the depth of the problem of Biblical illiteracy among American youth with these statistics from a survey of incoming freshmen:

• 1/3 of the students could not put the following Biblical events in their proper order: Abraham, the Old Testament prophets, the death of Christ, and Pentecost.
• Half of them couldn’t remember who came first, Moses, Isaac, and Saul.
• 1/3 were unable to name the book of Acts as the book containing Paul’s missionary travels.
• 1/3 could not identify Matthew as an apostle from a random list of names.

These students represent the most churched and most committed demographic in America!

Paul, John, George and Ringo made some great music. Every song they ever wrote is on my iTunes. I’ve been listening to them for over forty years.

But it’s the writings of another Paul, Luke, Peter, and another John that have changed my life.

I hope you’ll join me as we journey through all 66 books of the Bible in 2012-13. Let’s do our part to improve the Biblical literacy of God’s people!

Questions: Honestly, how do you think you would have done on a test of your Biblical literacy? 

No You Don’t!

“I just want to know what God wants me to do,” the man said to me.

His eyes filled with rage at my answer: “No you don’t!”

“What do you mean?” he protested. “I do too; I want to know God’s will!”

As we sat across the table in my office, I reminded him that he had asked me to help him determine God’s will in his finances three times before, over a period of about six years. Each time I brought him to the same conclusion from God’s Word: “God’s will is clear—give to His work. You cannot look past His clear teaching that connects all of His financial promises to your faith in Him. You must trust Him enough to give before you can expect His guidance and blessing concerning your money situation.”

But here we were, going around the same block, considering his same questions, and reviewing God’s same answer.

Don’t Ask If You’re Not Willing

It’s dangerous to ask God for directions unless you are willing to follow them! When the wicked idolaters who had fled to Moab and Edom as the Babylonians poured into Jerusalem returned to try to wrest power from the puppet king, they asked Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord for them. When Jeremiah told them that the Lord wanted them to stay in Jerusalem, stop their idolatry, and submit to the Babylonians, they accused him of lying, took him prisoner, and forced him to flee to Egypt with them where they worshiped their “Goddess of Heaven.” (Jeremiah 41-44)

The Father tires of those who are simply curious about his will or come to him only in a crisis to see if he offers a pleasant option for deliverance. This is the state of so many Christians. In the merry-go-round of their lives, they just repeat the same mistakes and live under the same pathology year after year. They sometimes ask God what to do, especially when these pathologies cost or hurt them. Then, they decide once again not to do what God says and to return to their idols of career, materialism, and recreation.

How sad, but the Lord wants better for His children…for you!

When He directs, follow. I believe that too many refusals just cause the Father to know that we are not really serious about doing His will. So He stops speaking, as He did to the unbelieving generations of Israel and Judah.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).