THE BIBLE

God's Indispensable Word To Man Part 2

In my previous blog post "THE BIBLE - God's Indispensable Word To Man", I quoted two verses in 2 Timothy 3:16,17 which bear repeating at the start of this blog, as a reminder of the vital importance the written Word of God is for the individual believer in Christ, as well as the wider Body of Christ.

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Concerning the inspiration by the Holy Spirit of all the writers of the books of the Bible, the writer to the Hebrews says in chapter 1: God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; Hebrews 1:1-3.

As to the authorship of the thirty nine books of the Old Testament, the first five books, referred to as the Pentateuch, were written by Moses.

Some of the historical books from Joshua to Esther have question marks over them as to their human authors. King David penned nearly half of the Psalms; his son, Solomon, wrote all of the Proverbs save the last chapter, and most, if not all the major and minor prophets' books were written by the men whose book bears their name.

I find it interesting that there is real conjecture concerning the authorship of some of the Old Testament books, and also the Book of Hebrews in the New Testament. What it says to me, is that, in some ways, it does not really matter if we know for sure who physically wrote the books. The most important takeaway is that the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Godhead, provided the inspiration for whoever the human authors were, and it is to Him that all the glory goes for providing us with the outstanding revelation we have of our great God - our Saviour and Lord.

It is estimated that about forty writers were responsible for producing the sixty six books of the Bible, the apostle Paul in the New Testament, having written thirteen or fourteen (if he wrote the letter to the Hebrews) of the twenty seven books.

The people involved over a period of some 1500 years came from vastly differing backgrounds and occupations - such as traders, shepherds, fishermen, soldiers, preachers and kings. They served under different governments and lived within contrasting cultures and systems of philosophy - and yet, there is a common thread that binds all of the books of the Bible together as a unified whole, with the message of God's great love for humanity, His hatred of sin and rebellion, the remedy for sin and the unspeakable rewards, both in this life and in that which is to come, for those who repent of their sin.
Christ, God's provision for the redemption of fallen mankind, is pictured in every book of the Bible through prophecy and through character types in the Old Testament. Various websites can be readily accessed on the theme of Christ in Every Book of the Bible. Genesis 3:15 at the beginning of creation following the sin of Adam and Eve states:"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." The Lord, speaking to the serpent in the garden of Eden, spoke of His remedy for sin, already in His mind before the world began - that His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ would die on a Roman cross, the sinless Son of God dying in our place, that we might be restored to fellowship with Father God.
TO BE CONTINUED
In the meantime, if you would like to know more about becoming a Christian, or as a Christian you would like to access some encouraging Christian resources, a couple of suggested sites are: vision.org.au (the Vision Christian Media online portal) and livingwaters.com (the online site for access to evangelist Ray Comfort's excellent videos, audio messages and other evangelism tools).

THE BIBLE - God's Indispensable Word to Man

The Christian Bible is, without a doubt, the bestselling and most widely distributed book of all times. It is impossible to know how many copies of the Bible have been sold, but a survey by the Bible Society concluded that around 2.5 billion copies were printed between 1815 and 1975, but more recent estimates put the figure at more than 5 billion. Guiness Book of World Records concurs with a similar figure of around 5 billion.

In late April of 2015, Gideons distributed their historic two billionth Scripture. The distribution of the first of the first one billion Bibles and New Testaments spanned 93 years (1908-2001). The second billion was obtained in less than 14 years (2002-2015). Gideons International began distributing free Bibles in 1908. Members of Gideons International currently distribute over 800 million Scriptures annually, and the numbers are growing, especially in places such as Brazil, India and Asia.
The Bible consists of 66 books, divided into sections - the two most obvious being the Old Testament, containing thirty nine books, and the New Testament with twenty seven books.
The Old Testament is divided into further sections:
1.  The Pentateuch or the books of Moses, being the first five books,
2.  The Historical books being Joshua to Esther,
3.  The Poetical books being from Job to Song of Solomon,
4.  The Major Prophets, Isaiah to Daniel, and
5.  The Minor Prophets, being the twelve last books of the Old Testament, consisting of Hosea to Malachi.
The New Testament consists of twenty seven books:
1.  The Four Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
2.  The Book of Acts,
3.  Paul's Epistles of Letters to the Churches - Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 7 2 Thessalonians,
4.  Paul's Pastoral Epistles - 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus,
5.  The Letter of Paul to Philemon, 
6.  The Letter to the Hebrews ( believed by many to have been written by Paul),
7.  The Epistle of James,
8.  1 & 2 Peter,
9.  1,2 & 3 John,
10.  The Epistle of Jude, and finally,
11.  The Book of Revelation (written by the apostle John).
As with all books, by their very nature, the Bible is made up of thousands - hundreds of thousands of words.
A little Bible trivia is: that there are 8,674 different Hebrew words in the Bible. There are 5,624 different Greek words, and 12,143 different English words in the King James Bible.
Although there are many English versions and various paraphrases of the Bible, with new ones appearing all the time - one of the more recent, which is receiving much positive response is The Passion Translation - it could be said that none of the translations from the Hebrew and the Greek are wholly inspired by the Holy Spirit to the last word.
The original texts, however, were wholly inspired by God, word by word. The apostle Paul, in writing to his son in the faith, Timothy, with instructions for ministry, says: All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16,17
I remember having a book in my possession many years ago called "The Seal Of God" by Frederick C. Payne, which portrays God's incredible design in nature and in His Word. Much of the book was inspired by the study of a Russian mathematician, Ivan Panin, who is remembered for his work on collating clear evidence of Bible numerics, where in the original texts, there are very clear and irrefutable patterns in Scripture relating to numeric values.
The book "The Seal of God" is available online as a PDF download for those who are interested in further study. It is fascinating reading.
The Bible was penned by around 40 different authors over around a 1500 year period. The authorship of all of the books of the New Testament is clear, apart from the Book of Hebrews, which the King James Bible attributed to Paul. He is a strong contender for the author. However, there have been other suggestions, including Apollos, and even the suggestion that the author of Hebrews may have been in fact - wait for it - a woman, namely Priscilla, of Priscilla and Aquila fame mentioned in the Book of Acts in chapter 18, as a married couple, who travelled with the apostle Paul. He described them as his "fellow workers in Christ Jesus." Romans 16:3.
TO BE CONTINUED
In the meantime, if you would like to know more about becoming a Christian or, as a Christian you would like to access some encouraging resources: as a few suggestions, go to www.vision.org.au or livingwaters.com There are many trusted Christian websites I could recommend, but these are a few which may be helpful. God Bless!

WINTER

A short poem by Tessa

The rose survived

                    autumn's pruning

                                             of wind and rain and frost

                                  The child saw

                                        "the first rose"

                                              she said and

                                         hope tinged warmth

                                                             into 

                                                   our hearts.

                                     

HINENI

Every year in Hobart, the state capital city of Tasmania, here in Australia, churches across the city from virtually all denominations and theological persuasions come together for an annual celebration of the Church of Jesus Christ.They put aside the differences in liturgical and worship styles, to celebrate the fundamentals which unite the church - the common understanding that Jesus Christ is Lord of the Church, and that, as the second Person of the Trinity, He came to earth to live as one of us, yet being fully God in human form. He willinglylaid down His life to be crucified on a cruel Roman cross, shedding His life's blood, as the once for all sacrifice for the sins of all those who would acknowledge His substitutionary death for our sins. 

The event is called aptly "Church Together" and has been running now for something in the order of fourteen years. This year, twenty five churches across the spectrum of church expressions - Catholic, Protestant Evangelicals, and Pentecostal churches united under the canopy of the Princes Wharf 1 shed at Salamanca, on Hobart's iconic waterfront, to demonstrate to the city that the church, at its core is united in proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and to pray for the blessing of God Almighty on Hobart, Tasmania and the nation as a whole. A number of other church congregations from outside the Hobart Metro area were also represented by those attending.

As well as a program of high quality contemporary, with a couple of older worship, songs lead by singers and musicians from nine different churches across the city, "Church Together" this year was greatly privileged to have as its guest speaker / preacher, world-acclaimed former Hillsong worship pastor, Darlene Zschech, who now, with her husband Mark pastor a church called Hope Unlimited Church north of Sydney, with several other church plant campuses, here in Australia and overseas. It must be said, also, that each year the Church Together rally has been blessed with excellent speakers with national and, in fact, international respect, including the likes of Karl Faase last year, and Will Graham - the son of Franklin Graham, and grandson of the late Billy Graham - several years ago.

My wife and I were blessed by Darlene Zschech's humility, as she told those gathered that she was honoured to be invited, and that she did not take for granted the opportunity to be asked to speak at this event. Having written over one hundred praise and worship songs, many of which have been recorded on Hillsong top selling albums, as well as her own recording projects, and having been in much demand, both in Australia, as well as overseas, as a worship leader, conference speaker, TV show guest, author of a number of books - she has also faced some major crises in recent years, particularly that of battling breast cancer, and emerging victorious after much prayer, surgery and medical treatment - cancer free, now going on for four years. Praise the Lord!

As an aside, it is interesting to reflect that, in 2013, Darlene released a wonderful album called "Revealing Jesus - A Live Worship Experience" recorded in Birmingham, Alabama. One of the most powerful songs on the album is one called "In Jesus Name."
To quote some of the lyrics: God is fighting for us
                                         God is on our side
                                         He has overcome
                                         Yes He has overcome
                                         We will not be shaken
                                         We will not be moved
                                         Jesus You are here

                                         I will live, I will not die
                                         The resurrection power of Christ
                                         Alive in me and I am free
                                         In Jesus' Name
                                         I will declare and lift You high
                                         Christ revealed and I am healed
                                         In Jesus' Name
In the recording, she stops singing and relates how in their time of rehearsal, she had a sense that she wanted to declare to the audience that if anyone was fighting cancer, they needed to declare the words of this song over them. She said a couple of times emphatically: "I hate cancer, I hate cancer!" 
I have wondered if the Lord gave her this song, as well as the boldness to stand against the curse of cancer during this live worship event, because nothing takes the Lord by surprise, and He knew Darlene would in the space of less than two years time, face her own cancer battle. The words of the song no doubt fortified her to stand strong on the Word of God for her healing through that time.

Darlene Zschech's message to the "Church Together" gathering in Hobart centred around a Hebrew word "HINENI" as spoken by Abraham in Genesis 22:1. The Lord had already told Abraham that he and his wife, Sarah would have a son in their old age - Sarah would be ninety and Abraham one hundred when the promised son, Isaac was born.  Some years before this, the Lord had told Abraham, as recorded in Genesis 15:5 "Look up toward heaven and count the stars, if you able to count them." And He said to him, "So will your descendants be." In Genesis 17:17 it says: Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, "Shall a child be born to a child to a man that is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?".....................Then God said, "......Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call his name Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him."

As promised, Sarah in her old age, bore Abraham a son and they named him Isaac. Fast forward a number of years to the incident recorded in Genesis 22. We are not told how old Isaac is, but we must assume he was probably at least a healthy strong teenager, or older. 
In verse 1, it says After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!"
And he said, "Here I am!" The response of Abraham: "Here I am!" is a translation of the Hebrew word HINENI, which means more than just a passive response. It has the meaning of not only, Here I am, but, also holds the sense that whatever you ask of me, I will do it! It was a statement of total trust in God. As we read on in Genesis 22, we see God's directive to Abraham to take Isaac to Mount Moriah and to offer him up as a burnt sacrifice. Abraham responded in total trust and obedience to the Lord. He passed the test, and we are told that, just at the time he was going to kill his son, having placed him on the pile of wood, that the angel of the Lord called out to Abraham and told him not to lay his hands on the boy or do anything to him, because now I know that you fear God, seeing that you have not withheld your only son from Me."
The Lord continues to encourage Abraham that because of his obedience, his descendants, through Isaac, would be multiplied as the stars in the heavens and the sand on the seashore and that they would rule with great authority over their enemies.
We as Christians today, and as the Church of the Living God, need to have same Hineni attitude of response to the Lord. Whatever He asks of us, we need to respond with that same faith attitude of Abraham.
Darlene made an interesting statement, which was not original with her, but nevertheless worthy of reflection: When the church loses its voice, the world loses its conscience. 
Let us resolve to walk close to the Lord. To be worshipping warriors, lifting high the banner of God's love and truth, as His image bearers to carry His love, grace and truth.

A FOOLISH MESSAGE?

For to those who are perishing, the preaching of the cross is foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

                          "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

                           and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."

Where is the wise [man]? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of this world foolish? For since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, we preach Christ as the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For observe your calling, brothers. Among you, not many wise men according to the flesh, not many mighty men, and not many noble men are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And God has chosen the base things of the world and things which are despised. Yes, and He chose things which did not exist to bring to nothing things that do, so that no flesh should boast in His presence. But because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, whom God made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Modern English Version.

In the light of the above verses, it is interesting to note that Easter Sunday this year falls on April 1, traditionally April Fools' Day. Easter Sunday or Resurrection Sunday, as it is referred to by many Christians is the celebration of the triumphant resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, having been crucified on a Roman cross three days earlier. The Cross is central to the Christian message of salvation for repentant sinners from the penalty of sin and separation from the Eternal God. The Bible clearly states that :All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23. The Greek word for sin is hamartia which means "to miss the mark". It can be pictured by thinking of an archer aiming arrows at a target, and never ever being able to either reach the target with the arrows, or totally missing the bull's-eye. Because of our inherent sin nature from birth, we are all separated from relationship with the Living God. No matter how good we think we are, we can never by our own efforts attain to God's standard of righteousness. In fact, the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament, said it this way: We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.
The verses at the top of this blog equate the preaching of the cross of Christ as foolishness to those who are perishing (in their sins) - BUT, it is the power of God for all who are being saved.
Jim Elliott, one of five young American missionaries martyred by Auca indians in Ecuador in 1956, is remembered for one of his quotes: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
His wife, Elisabeth Elliott later returned to the same place and was able to lead some of those same Indians to Christ, and wrote the book "Through Gates of Splendour."
The apostle Paul who wrote half of the New Testament books of the Bible under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was once a prominent Jewish leader who hated Christians, and actively was involved in seeking their arrest and subsequent execution. On one such trip to the city of Damascus in order to arrest Christians, he had a supernatural encounter with Jesus. He fell to the ground, saw a dazzling light and heard Jesus say to him: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" Saul, who became the apostle Paul, was blind for three days , until a man named Ananias was sent to him by God to pray that he might receive his sight back again. Later, when well established in his apostolic ministry, Paul wrote a letter to the church at Philippi, and in the third chapter of Philippians outlined his impeccable credentials as a Jewish leader before his life-changing encounter with the risen Christ. He went on to say, however:
But what things were gain to me, I have counted these things to be loss for the sake of Christ. Yes, certainly I count everything as loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord....Philippians 3:4-8
Countless millions of people from all walks of life, from nations around the world can testify to the power of the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to transform their lives from hopelessness and despair to ones with real hope and peace and a purpose for living. To many, the preaching of the cross of Christ, and the salvation message of the Gospel might indeed seem foolish, but to those who are being saved, it is indeed the power of God! No one can take that away from them! For further information on how you can come to know Christ as your Lord and Saviour, go to www.vision.org.au Click on the Grow your faith tab, then Looking for God? God Bless!

WHAT IS TRUTH?

(Continued)

As stated at the start of the first blog post on this topic, a simple dictionary definition of Truth could be said to be: That which conforms to reality, fact or actuality. Sounds simple, doesn't it. BUT, in actual fact, Truth has been made such a complicated concept by philosophically-inclined minds, drawing upon human wisdom and knowledge to expound, in some instances, very wordy theories pertaining to Truth, but which nevertheless conflict with a multitude of other Truth concepts and theories. 

In the previous blog, I mentioned in heading form, some of the various philosophical theories concerning Truth which have been postulated over the years by secular philosophers, the most popular of these theories being what is known as the Correspondence Theory. Ah, yes! The Correspondence Theory Of Truth! Sounds great.........but what does it mean? It turns out that there are several aspects to the Correspondence Theory, but basically the theory in general terms states that the truth or falsity of a statement is determined by only how it relates to the world and whether it accurately describes (i.e., corresponds with) the world. It is a traditional model which goes back at least to some of the classical Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. As an example of the Correspondence Theory of Truth, British philosopher, Bertrand Russell theorized that a statement,to be true, must have a structural isomorphism with the state of affairs in the world that makes it true. For example, "A cat is on a mat", is true if, and only if, there is in the world a cat and the cat is related to the mat by virtue of being on it. Wow! To think, that these great minds with doctorate degrees from the elite halls of tertiary learning are able to come up with such profoundly obvious statements as evidence of truth is somewhat underwhelming! Last time I quoted 2 Timothy 3:7 in the New Testament of the Bible. where the apostle Paul, speaking of the times in which we live said there would be people who would be "ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." As I also previously stated, Truth is to be found in a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, in the Gospel of John stated, concerning Himself: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
If the God of the Bible is the one true God, and the Word of God can be fully relied upon to be the expression of God's truth, then we can have full confidence in the Absolute and irrefutable Truth in God's Word absolutely.
There has been much written about Truth being either Absolute truth or Relative truth, and the fact that, for an increasing number of people today, Truth is relative to the ever changing cultural norms brought about by societal attitudinal changes. The Ten Commandments of the Bible, which helped form a strong reference point for justice and a framework for morality in Western nations, and in fact, any nation with a Judaeo-Christian heritage, have seemed to become less and less relevant to a world hell-bent on destroying the fabric of society with liberal philosophy espousing the doctrine of relative truth. Relative truth is like a boat adrift in a raging sea, having been ripped from its moorings. It can be stated as: Truth that is only true at one time and at one place. It's true to some people and not to others. It's always subject to change. It is also subject to the perspective of people.
Because of the nature of relative truth, we have seen justification for Biblically abominable lifestyle choices, including the wholesale murder of unborn babies - abortion, in the name of women's rights. We have seen the definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, for life or "until death us do part" vehemently attacked by the gay rights activists (See Bill Muehelenberg's Culture Watch site for many articles on this and other subjects).
The abandonment of belief in ultimate of Absolute truth in today's culture has led to the "Whatever" philosophy of life. If it feels good, then do it. if it benefits me, even if it goes against long-held moral laws, unless it hurts somebody else, then I can justify it. If science and human reason support it, go for it. If popular opinion supports your decisions in life, then it is easy to justify going along with the crowd for personal convenience - when the "Whatevers" fulfill our concepts of truth relative to our worldview and personal interest.
For the person who is prepared to take the Living God at His Word, Jesus says in John 16:13 that the Holy Spirit, "the Spirit of truth will guide you into all truth."
A generation which does not want to be accountable to anyone for their actions, let alone, to a Holy God whose Word and whose Truth is unchanging, is reaping what they have sown in rebelling against the One in whom is all the wisdom and knowledge necessary to lead a totally fulfilled and complete life. Truth, ultimate truth, is to be found in a person, the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in living according to God's Word, the Bible. For further reading on Absolute Truth and all that implies, may I suggest you Google Absolute Truth- Focus on the Family, for a very insightful and well written article on this topic.

WHAT IS TRUTH?

(CONTINUED)

The unmistakable fact of history since the time of Christ's ministry on Earth and His subsequent death on the Cross of Calvary and His triumphant bodily resurrection on that first Resurrection Sunday is that those who have embraced THE TRUTH in the person of Jesus Christ - find that truth to be life-changing. This is also contingent on them giving heed to the Word of God, which is able to liberate from bondage to sin and its consequences. Satan, the arch deceiver, whom the Bible calls the father of lies, cannot stand up to the searchlight of the truth of God's Holy Word. 

As I was thinking about what to write in this blog, "What Is Truth?", I Googled this question on the internet. I discovered a lengthy Wikipedia article which outlined some of the philosophical theories concerning Truth, and what it means. These include what are known as Substantive Theories, including:

                                  Correspondence Theory

                                  Coherence Theory

                                  Constructivist Theory

                                  Concensus Theory

                                  Pragmatic Theory

Then there are Minimalist or Deflationary Theories. These include:

                                  Performative Theory of Truth

                                  Reduncancy and Related Theories.

There are also what is known as Pluralist Theories.

I discovered that, of the above, the Correspondence Theory seems to have the highest percentage of support in relation to the definition of Truth - in philosophical terms.

I am reminded of the verse in 2 Timothy 3:7 where the apostle Paul speaking of the days in which we are living, describes people who would be "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
If you who are reading are on a quest to know ultimate Truth in all its dimensions, may I suggest you take a look in the Bible at the one who is TRUTH HIMSELF, the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus finished His earthly ministry, He told His disciples that He would send them a Helper, the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 16:13 that ".....when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."
In John 18:36-38, as Jesus stood before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, who would decide whether He lived or would be condemned to be crucified, Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world.If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here." 
Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are you a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause, I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."
Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all."
Pilate asked Jesus one of the most important questions He could have asked of the Son of God: "What is truth?" and He didn't bother to wait for the answer. Like Pilate, many today are searching for the meaning of Truth in Philosophy, Religion, Science - even Politics and always coming short.
The apostle Paul warns in Colossians 2:8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
He goes on to say in verses 9 and 10 For in Him [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
Does it matter what we believe to be the truth today? Isn't truth relative to the circumstances, culture, socio-political setting in which we find ourselves today? Ah...........we shall have to leave the answers to these questions to the next time we meet in cyberspace in the not too distant future.
If you have not yet encountered personally the one who is Truth Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, may I suggest one of many websites where you can find clear direction on how to become a Christian:
www.vision.org.au Click on the Radio word on the  top left of the screen. Then click on Grow your faith, then Looking for God!