Applying God’s Wisdom to Our Trials Now the believer of humble means should take pride in his high position. But the rich person’s pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow. For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the meadow; the petal of the flower falls off and its beauty is lost forever. So also the rich person in the midst of his pursuits will wither away. Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him. James 1:9-12 What are some practical insights for our trials—wisdom which will help us persevere and grow through them? James

Amazing Unfulfilled Bible Prophecies We’ve discussed fulfilled prophecies, but what about future, unfulfilled prophecies? We’ll consider some of those: Prophecies of a Third Jewish Temple Daniel 9:24-27 (NIV) says: “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place. “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, g the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ [483 years] It will be rebuilt with streets and a tre

How to Gain Wisdom for Our Trials But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a double-minded individual, unstable in all his ways. James 1:5-8 (NET) How can we gain wisdom for our trials? After commanding suffering Jewish Christians to rejoice and persevere through their trials so God could mature them (Jam 1:2-4), James encourages these believers to ask for wisdom from God. Since Ja

Amazing Fulfilled Bible Prophecies The Bible is unique in that ¼ of it is prophetic; it contains about 1000 prophecies, 500 of which have not been fulfilled.[i] In fact, God uses prophecy to prove his deity and that other “gods” are not true deities. Isaiah 41:21-24 says: “Present your argument,” says the Lord. “Produce your evidence,” says Jacob’s king. “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen! Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, so we may examine them and see how they were fulfilled. Or decree for us some future events! Predict how future events will turn out, so we might know you are gods. Yes, do something good or bad, so we might be frightened and in awe.

Responding Well to Trials From James, a slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Greetings! My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. James 1:1-4 How can we respond well to trials? James, Jesus’ brother, is the author of this epistle. While Christ was alive, he wasn’t a follower of Christ (John 7:5). It seems that he converted after Christ resurrected and appeared to him (1 Cor 15:7). He eventually became an apostle—meaning tha

The Bible Is Unique in Its Canonicity The English word “canon” comes from a Hebrew-Greek word which means “measuring rod.”[i] Later the word came to refer to a “standard” or “list.” When used of the Bible, it refers to the official list of books in the Bible. Therefore, the topic of “canonicity” has to do with how the books of the Bible were recognized as authoritative. We will look first at the OT and then the NT. Old Testament Canon As we considered previously, there was a continual adding of revelation to the Old Testament. It started with God writing the Ten Commandments with his own hand; then Moses writing the books of the law, then Joshua writing after him, and progressively God calli

The Bible Is Unique in Its Historical Reliability Assuming that we believe in God and that he has chosen to reveal himself through the Bible, how do we know that the Bible is accurate? We no longer have the original manuscript; therefore, how do we know the copies we have today are accurate? After all, we have all seen the telephone game: If we were in a classroom of people and one whispered a simple phrase into another’s ear, he did the same to the next person, and so on, by the last person, the phrase would be totally different. Isn’t that what happened with all the copies of the Bible over 100’s (1000’s) of years, and therefore, the Bible we have today is incomparable to the original? Thi