Let me be completely clear. I believe that the Bible is divinely inspired, that every word is pure, and that the Bible is my absolute authority in all matters of life and faith. I believe every jot and tittle. I hope you get the picture; I’m all about the Bible. The B-I-B-L-E, yes! That’s the book for me!

Let me go further. I believe that the Bible is a living book. Hebrews 4:12 says that it is alive and powerful. That’s the same passage that says the Bible is like a two-edged sword, though we don’t use real swords to fight battles much in our culture today, only as a sport. Here’s my point: the Bible is a living, life-giving book; it’s also a deadly weapon capable of eternally ripping someone’s (or your own) guts out.

I have neither been in the military or law enforcement, but I have been in wars and have had really good friends all my adult life in both law enforcement and the military. Correct me if I’m wrong, but one of the first items of training in the use of firearms is to instill a healthy and almost reverential respect for one’s weapon and what it can do. The officer/soldier recruit is carefully educated in somewhat ritualistic procedures to avoid pointing a weapon at anyone or carelessly transporting it in any way. The word gunslinger is part of our language, but it is never a good thing to go slinging a gun around under any circumstances. I understand that trainers are extremely picky about trainees slinging weapons around thoughtlessly. (Maybe that’s why no one wants to trust me with a weapon!)

Part of training is to bond with your weapon, to learn how to take it apart and put it back together again. One learns well how to clean the weapon, store it properly and safely to avoid it being picked up by untrained or malicious individuals. The more advanced and specialized the training, the more demanding in all of these areas. I have friends who can take their weapons apart and reassemble them blindfolded in the time it takes someone like me to change channels with a remote control.

Now, an essential part of training is to drill into the head, heart, spirit, and consciousness of the trainee that his or her weapon is never, ever to come out of the holster and be drawn until and unless there is good reason to believe that it may be necessary to use its deadly force in the course of duty. As your trainer might say, “You had better be sure, you had better be damn sure there is a legitimate reason to draw that gun!“Actually, the language may be a bit more explicit, but this is a general audience blog and you can use your imagination.

The Police Training Manual by Captain George Lumb of the Pennsylvania State Police, published way back in 1919, gave advice that sounds almost exactly like police training today: “A firearm should be drawn only when there is reason to believe deadly force must be used against an assailant (or might be needed and the weapon must be ready). The firearm or nightstick are not to be drawn or belligerently pointed to threaten or frighten citizens, even known criminals. To do so may cause the violent reaction a wise officer is seeking to avoid.”

Though not in the military or law enforcement, I have been a martial artist for many years. You would not believe the incredible rituals just to withdraw a traditional Japanese katana (sword) from its sheath! One trains for years to learn proper control and use of katana, and the respect for the weapon and others is over the top. You don’t just go down to the store, buy a neat Japanese sword and start running around the neighborhood cutting up stuff. Or, if you do, everyone knows you’re just a jerk.

Why all this noise about weapons and training? Because I believe that many professing Christians today are guilty of assault with a deadly weapon. Shooting from the hip, both barrels blazing, they fire off indiscriminately in all directions with no thought for the harm they may be causing.

A wife screams at her husband, “The Bible says for you to love me like Christ loves the church!” “Yes,” he screams back, “but it also says you are to submit to your husband.” Who wins that exchange? You’ve got two bloodied people. Assault with a deadly weapon.

You’re standing on the corner yelling Bible verses at people passing by. One in a thousand prays the “sinner’s prayer” and an immediate chorus of halleluiahs confirms the power of God’s Word. How many of those “transformed lives” ever darkens the door of a church? Another one in a thousand? “That’s not important, Brother. The Bible says that there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repents.” We are pretty good to justify just about anything we do and “prove” it by quoting yet more Bible verses yanked from proper context.

How many Jehovah’s Witnesses have genuinely come to faith because they got hit in a fire fight of Bible verses? How many people are ever argued into Heaven? How many atheists or agnostics finally saw the light because of a Bible grenade that exploded nearby?

I went hunting … once. My friend’s dog runs through a thicket and a bunch of quail suddenly flare in front of me. Excited, I raise my shotgun to the hip and open fire. By the grace of God I hit one that falls from the air. Wow! I’m a hunter! Could I do that again? Maybe one in a thousand! My friend says I might have better success if I learned to aim.

Am I saying we shouldn’t use the Bible? Am I ashamed of the Bible? Am I against evangelism? Don’t I know that there is power in the Word of God? Don’t get me started. Don’t go there. You have no idea. I believe that there is more power in that book that you and I can imagine. I am all for the transformation of lives by God’s grace through the power of his word.  I’m just saying you’d better keep it holstered unless you know exactly what you’re doing. Take it out and use it with great skill when you are absolutely convinced that this is the moment that God has ordained. Just because you’ve got a nice Bible and have learned some neat stuff about it, don’t go shooting it all around unless you know exactly what you are doing.

Last summer not far from my house, some guys are standing by a small lake on the grounds of their apartment complex. They have a nice gun and think it would be cool to celebrate the 4^th of July season by firing a few shots into the lake. It never occurs to them that bullets sometimes can ricochet off of water as though it were stone. Some kids are playing in the backyard of a house a couple of hundred yards through the woods on the other side of the lake. Suddenly, a pretty eleven-year-old little girl falls over dead with a gunshot wound to her head. How many families are ruined by that thoughtless, stupid act? Keep it holstered.

Analogies eventually break down, but there is something else I want to say. A police officer learns to project an image, a presence, a confidence. In military and polices circles people speak of “command presence.”  An officer with good command presence might just make it through a lot of potentially explosive situations without ever having to use his or her weapon. That would be the idea. If you want to be Rambo and shoot up a bunch of people, don’t be a cop; join a gang.

We are to project the presence of Christ to those around us. We WILL have to draw our sword when the moment is right. First and foremost, though, we are to live the presence of the Christ. We keep the weapon holstered until just the right moment arrives. When we finally draw it, we bring to bear our training, our life, our experience and all that we are to be able to strike just the right spot with the right words. There is transformational power in that type of action.

Am I suggesting that we should not allow the Bible to enter into our conversation? Goodness no! I’m just saying we need to learn the right way to do it. People like Jesus and Paul used scripture in oral communication of course. Mostly, though, it was with other people who were also familiar with scripture. Jesus seems to quote scripture most fluidly in heated exchanges with the Pharisees. Most of the time, though, he was not just flinging scripture around, but very pointedly mixing scripture skillfully into normal conversation, not quoting chapter and verse (there were no chapters and verses in the first century), but naturally mingling scripture into the conversational flow. When Paul was among fellow Jews, quoting scripture was a predominant part of conversation. When he spoke to the Athenians he was careful not to quote scripture, but to engage them in normal conversation with the intent of finding the proper opening for scriptural truth at the proper moment.

My point is that unless one also knew the same scriptures, there was usually no way to know they were quoting or paraphrasing the Bible. It was not as though they were reciting for show or to impress others, but rather scriptural truth just naturally and normally influenced their thoughts and the resulting words. Their normal conversational exchanges accurately reflected God’s truth as well as did the manner in which they conducted themselves. They did not just obnoxiously blast away into the faces of their listeners. I guess you could say that their use of scripture looked  more like “concealed carry” that strutting around with a six-shooter visibly strapped on their hip and frequently out of the holster.

I really think that many people who are guilty of assault with a deadly weapon are covering for insecurities, whether their weapon is a handgun or a Bible. Textbooks are written about people who explode in rage and go blasting away in an office, school or other public settings. They are people with deep personal issues and a ton of complexes and insecurities.

Not all socially-challenged folks irresponsibly shoot people, of course, but we have all seen those who relish walking around brandishing a weapon because it is their attempt to attract attention, compensate for their personal insecurities and for others to see them as tough. Likewise, spewing forth a barrage of Bible verses often seems to be a cover for insecurities on the part of people incapable of engaging in ordinary conversation.

At a funeral yesterday Cheryl and I sat next to a gentleman who was clearly socially-challenged. Even in the Christian setting of a funeral, carrying on a normal conversation was a stretch for him. Yes, we tried. He constantly was leaning into Cheryl’s side, or looking at me with a weird smile. However, a constant stream of Bible verses, Amen’s and other “Christian” phrases flowed from his mouth, even when the minister officiating was speaking. He was intent on letting those of us around him know that he was part of “in crowd” when it came to God. Sadly, the constant scriptural rounds being fired from his mouth did not complement the words of the speaker, but rather distracted and competed with him. Keep it holstered.

Let’s use our powerful sword responsibly and maturely to give life, not to be guilty of assault with a deadly weapon.

Today was a FAB5 at Graceway, a Sunday we set aside anytime there is a fifth Sunday in the month to do baptisms, the Lord’s Supper and other, well … “stuff” we have trouble doing in the normal flash of activity of a Sunday morning. So there is no literary update for the Luke study today. However, I do have something I want to share – Sixteen Seasons.

I just finished a book that I enjoyed immensely. The title of the book is Sixteen Seasons, an imaginative title that speaks to the sixteen seasons (four years) spent by an American family in Tajikistan as witnesses of Jesus Christ. It is very well written, even eloquent at times. Author David James has a gift to combine humor, transparency, reality and biblical insight.

One reason I liked the book is because I happen to know the author. David James is a pen name due to the sensitive nature of his work in a country that is closed to traditional missions. James and his family eventually had to leave their beloved adopted country, but now serve among a related group of people in another country.

Many of you Gracewegans would know David James by his real name because he spoke to us in a conference a few years back and we have repeatedly prayed for him and his family. David and his wife are from the Kansas City area and those of us who know them have been greatly impressed by their genuineness, humility and depth of biblical spirituality.

Reading Sixteen Seasons brought back many personal memories of living with a young family in a foreign culture. We lived in three different countries with our little girls and experienced many of the same joys, delights, frustrations and heartaches as David James and his family. There were times I laughed out loud or wept silently as he touched chords in my heart that only someone who has been through similar circumstances could possibly understand.

Even though the culture described in Sixteen Seasons is literally on the other side of the world from my personal experiences with a young family, I have traveled enough in his region of the world and in similar cultures that I can appreciate just how accurate his word pictures really are.

The reason I am recommending this book is because so many have expressed interest in what a family goes through when relocating to a completely different culture for the cause of Christ. Sometimes folks get a false, romanticized image of what it must be like to be a missionary. Unfortunately some of those people end up in strange places ready to serve God, but have never truly counted the cost or understood the depth of what is in store. James gives you the good, bad, ridiculous, fabulous and tragic. We will probably require people to read this book in many circumstances before relocating in this part of the world or even for an extended mission.

Sixteen Seasons will be coming to the Graceway bookstore or you can get it directly here.

My son-in-law Brian sent me a link today that he knew I would love. I do! The video is available on YouTube, but I thought Michael Hyatt’s commentary on the video was as excellent as the short video. Don’t miss this!

I also linked to this on my FaceBook, but some of you won’t see it there. Of course you could always friend me.

Click here for the link.

As promised in our study of Luke this morning, below is the layout of the parallelism in Luke 1: 5-20. Some of you will recognize this schematic way of diagramming from literature classes in High School or college. All of you who are regulars at Graceway have heard me speak repeatedly of parallelism because it is such a major component of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.

Parallelism is a huge part of the beauty and genius of scripture. Basically, parallelism refers to laying out parallel words, phrases, sentences or other literary units to compare, complement, complete or contrast with each other. Sometimes you will hear terms like chiastic structure, form or redaction criticism used to speak of the literary analysis of any writing, not just the Bible. Here is a quick and basic overview if you are interested.

Upper and lower cases of the Greek letter Chi

Chiastic form is a term derived from the Greek letter Chi that looks quite similar to a stylized capital X in our English alphabet. As you look at the diagram below, you can see that the diagram forms half of an X, of Chi.

This is important because key to understanding the words of scripture, or any words, is context. To properly understand the Bible we must understand the historical, cultural, grammatical and literary context of the words of scripture. From a practical standpoint, parallelism assists us to see clearly the main points, how they are related and to remember the message. As you might imagine, this type of study can be as simple or complicated as you want.

Also, despite the wonderful insight we can gain from learning about literary structure in biblical times, some use such information in an attempt to discredit the historicity or accuracy of the Bible. Like any good tool, its value is in the hands of the individual who uses it.  Parallelism is not a secret code or silver bullet, but simply a literary technique useful to writer and listener/reader alike for the enhancement of communication was well as creative beauty.

In biblical times, no one walked around with a big black Bible under the arm. In Old Testament times, most biblical revelation was preserved on scrolls by scribes. Handmade, large, and rare, scrolls were not immediately accessible to just anyone. As the various books of the New Testament were completed, they were circulated on papyrus scrolls. Only after the first century did it become common to begin to assemble biblical books on papyrus or vellum in a form that would approximate what we think of as a book today.

Instead of owning a personal copy of scripture, people listened to scripture as it was carefully read, whether in the temple, synagogue or church. Literary devices such as parallelism or chiastic structure assisted listeners to understand and remember what they were hearing. This is still true in oral societies to this day.

Western literate cultures process information in what many would consider to be linear and logical forms, while many oriental cultures process information by thoughts patterns that are sometimes described as “spiral.” This is not to infer that one is better than the other, only different. Eastern thought processes are more similar to the way people in biblical cultures processed information. Huge portions of the Bible are written in various poetic, literary styles. Writers of scripture wrote understanding that their words would largely be heard with the ears, not read with the eyes.

Please understand that recognition of such literary devices and their use in no way detracts from the divine inspiration of the Bible, nor does it imply less historical accuracy as some might attempt to infer. To the contrary! God chose to work through human instrumentality employing the forms and techniques of the time and culture of the biblical writers. This is the whole point of context. We should also understand how blessed we are today to have immediate and personal access to the words of God, whether in a big black Bible under the arm or on our smart phone!

So, with this brief and simplistic background, here is my own simplified adaptation and wording of of the parallel structure of Luke 1:5-20 that I have studied in the works of various scholars and commentators. Notice how the thoughts parallel each other, A to A’, B to B’. C to C’, etc.

A good way to read this is in spiral form rather than linear. In other words, read both A points, then the B, and so on, working your way to the middle – in this case H or verse 13. This is the writer’s way of signaling that this is THE point. This is also the way the original recipients of biblical scripture would have intuitively processed the content.

Enjoy! I’ll probably be posting more examples as we move through our study of Luke, so check back from time to time.

A – Day apppointed – 1:5

B – Righteous before God – 1:6

C – Stricken in years – 1:7

D – Obedient service – 1:8-9

E – Multitudes affected – 1:10

F – Messenger of God – 1:11

G – Trouble and fear – 1:12

H – The message – 1:13

G’ – Joy and gladness – 1:14

F’ – Messenger of God – 1:15

E’ – Multitudes affected – 1:16

D’ – Obedient service – 1:17

C’ – Stricken in years – 1:18

B’ – Blessed by God – 1:19

A’ – Day appointed – 1:20

Siempre me fascina lo que se puede hacer por medio de la tecnologia. Ayer tuvimos otro webinario – un evento en vivo dónde desde mi oficina me puedo comunicar con un buen grupo de colegas en el ministerio. En esta ocasión compartí algunos pensamientos sobre la manera en la cual determino qué predicar a la congregación, un tema de mucho interés para pastores. Aproximadamente 50 individuos estuvieron conmigo de más de 12 países gracias a la tecnología del Internet.

Por medio de la misma tecnología, otros pueden aprovechar luego mediante YouTube. Por ejemplo aquí está lo de miércoles: Webinario.

A la misma vez, aprevecho la oportunidad para anunciar algunos cambios a nuestro sitio web. En los meses anteriores nuestro equipo se ha ocupado en nuestro cambio de nombre y los correspondientes cambios al sitio web. En el proceso de estos cambios ha sido necesario pensar primero en la utilidad de comunicarnos con nuestra propia congregación. Pero nos es sumamente importante también comunicarnos con ustedes. Y la verdad es que nuestro sitio no ha sido muy “user friendly” para nuestros amigos hispanohablantes. Les pedimos su perdón y paciencia.

Ahora observarán en la faja anaranjada superior la palabra español a la mano derecha. Este botón les llevará a los lugares en dónde tenemos recursos en español. Esperamos que esto les facilite mucho su navegación en nuestro sitio.

Además, me da mucho gusto decirles que uno puede bajar el libro Direcciónes en español gratuita y directamente del sitio de Graceway sin necesidad de pasar por el sitio de Reality Living Publishing. Damos gracias a Dios por la hospitalidad de Reality Living, pero debido a las condiciones de su propio sitio, fue necesario establecer una cuenta,, contraseña y shopping cart para bajar Direcciones, aunque es gratis. Para ustedes que no pueden nada el inglés les fe un poco desafiante y seguramente frustrante. Ahora todo es mucho mejor, y pueden notar en la primera página de Graceway que otros idiomas están disponibles para bajarse gratuitamente Direcciones también. Solamente en inglés cobramos el precio del libro, y son estas ventas que financian la traducción de los demás idiomas. Todavía otros idiomas están en el proceso de desarrollo.

Gracias por el compañerismo de todos ustedes en el reino de Dios. Esperamos seguir trabajando juntos y proveer más herramientas para el ministerio de la palabra de Dios.