Book Comment: Shocked by the Bible

 

In his book, Shocked by the Bible, Joe Kovacs points out numerous things which you probably did not know about the Bible. Kovacs makes no claim to be a Bible teacher. In fact, he says, ”I’m just a journalist fed up with the lack of accurate knowledge about what’s in the Bible.”

As with most books such as this, the author is not trying to tell you what to think. He specifically says that he does not expect you to agree with everything he says, He is trying to challenge you to read your Bible and to listen to what it says. Do not believe anything just because someone else told to believe it; let the Holy Spirit guide you to the truth.

Some of the subjects Kovacs mentions include:

The Wise Men did not visit Jesus on the night of his birth in the manger in Bethlehem. No one knows how many wise men there were.

Some Christian theologians believe that Jesus appeared numerous times in the Old Testament.

Sex within marriage is celebrated.

What does “we are God’s children” really mean?

Information you will need to search for this book: Kovacs, Joe, Shocked by the Bible. The Most Astonishing Facts You’ve Never Been Told ((Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2008).

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

Update on the Karen Shahan Murder

There has been a frustrating lack of updates about the investigation into the  23 July, 2013 murder of Karen Shahan, the wife of Richard Shahan, who is now the former Associate Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Birmingham, Alabama (USA).  At first, the cause of death was not released to the public, but it appears to have been the result of multiple stab wounds.  Also, Pastor Shahan’s status with the church was not publicized; he was on “leave.”  It has now become known that he is the former Associate Pastor of the church.

Some facts which have been released to the public: 1. There were no indications of forced entry, 2. Pastor Shahan insisted that he was out of town at the time of the murder, 3. The cause of death was multiple stab wounds, 4. Mrs. Shahan was not known to have any enemies, 5. There was apparently no theft of property from the murder site, 6.  Richard Shahan voluntarily went to the police station to answer questions and was held there for two days for what the police called “investigative purposes.”  He was released with no charges being filed and without him being officially named as a suspect in the killing. 

On 1 January 2014, Pastor Richard Shahan was arrested in Nashville, Tennessee (USA) while attempting to board a flight bound for Germany.  From Germany, the trip was to have continued to Kazakhtan.  Shahan insisted that he was leaving on a mission trip.  Legal extradiction proceedings have begun for his return to Alabama.  He has been officially charged with murder.

When more information is available it will be posted on this blog.

The Church Readerboard

I have no problem introducing humor into Christianity.  One of the funniest comics around is Michael Jr ., an overtly Christian comedian.

One of the places witty humor is often seen is the church readerboard.  The wittiness of the sayings often revolves around double meanings of words.  You decide what you think about this one.  The picture position is moving around on the Facebook page.  What the sign board says is: "God has no favorites - our sign guy does - Go Preds!"
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grace-Cumberland-Presbyterian-Church/177767247314
The "Preds" are the Nashville Predators, a professional hockey team in the National Hockey League.