Pastor Craig shared a recap of yesterday’s questions and answers in Week 1 of our Q Series.

Our annual Q Series is where folks send their questions to me on a variety of subjects and we do our best to answer them. This week many of the questions were about the Bible. Questions like:

• What books should be included in the Bible?
• What about Bible translations?
• Is it okay for the Bible to have pictures in it?

Here’s what we discussed, along with the time this discussion appears on the video:

• How was it decided what books would be included in the New Testament? [5:38]
• J. Warner Wallace’s list of criteria for New Testament books [9:45]
• Did contemporary sources support or refute the New Testament authors? [11:45]
• How did the final 27 books of the New Testament make the list? [15:02]
• How was it decided what books would be included in the Old Testament? [18:22]
• Evidence presented by the Apostle Paul [20:31]
• How do we know the Scriptures were accurately transcribed? [22:50]
• The history surrounding the complete Latin Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls [23:45]
• What are Bible translations and paraphrases (with references to the Wycliffe Bible and the discovery of the Rosetta Stone)? [25:45]
• Some cautions about Bible paraphrases [33:23]
• Is it okay for a Bible to have pictures in it? [35:16]
• Are icons of the Cross acceptable or a blasphemy? [37:42]
• How can someone better understand the Bible when they read it for themselves? [41:32]
• Why ask questions? [48:39]

We’ll be discussing more questions this upcoming Sunday, so be sure to send them my way. For all of the ways you can send questions, please click here.

Here is how Pastor Craig describes our new series in August…

“Ladies and gentleman, come see the amazing high wire act! Watch closely as he crosses the chasm on a tightrope without a net!” Well, at least that’s what it feels like to me.

On August 13, 20, and 27 we will be doing our Q Series at Calvary Assembly of God. These are Sundays where I don’t prepare a sermon, but I prepare myself to answer questions that are thrown at me on any topic. And I feel a little like the man walking on a tightrope without a net!

Here we go! 

If you’d like to submit a question, you can do so in the comments below. You can always send questions to me via Twitter or email. If you won’t be able to attend the services, we’ll be broadcasting on Facebook Live and will make the video on YouTube following that.

If you can attend in person (each of these Sundays at 10:30am), we will have a text number available so you can anonymously text your question to the computer techs.

It’s always fun and educational, so I hope you will be able to join us.

In our ongoing series looking at our foundational truths, Pastor Craig shared some insight into the concept of sanctification. Here is the recap he posted on his blog:

If I were to ask five different Christians to give me a definition of sanctification, I just might get five different definitions!

Part of this comes from incorrect either-or thinking. However, Jesus seems to tell us that sanctification requires a both-and thinking.

In Christ’s prayer for His followers in John 17, He uses the word sanctified three times (see verses 17-19). Although He is using the same Greek word each time, He uses a different “flavor” of the word to make it really clear what He means.

First of all, the Greek word for sanctified means the process of being made into a saint. So I sometimes I like to say the word this way: SAINT-ified.

Check out Christ’s prayer. First He says, “I sanctify Myself,” and then He says, “that they too may be truly sanctified.” Same Greek word, but each time is slightly tweaked.

Jesus uses a “flavor” of Greek which means sanctification is something that He has done completely and totally on His own once and for all. In other words, Christians are completely and totally sanctified at the very moment they surrender their life to Him.

But when He talks about His followers, the “flavor” of Greek means sanctification is something that is an ongoing process. In other words, we are being SAINT-ified.

So which is it? Sanctified once, or sanctified through an ongoing process?

It’s not either-or. It’s both-and!

Think about a married couple. From the moment the pastor says, “I now pronounce you husband and wife” they are married. It is done; fully completed. There is nothing the bride or groom can do to become more married.

However, the groom can begin to look at the marriage through his bride’s eyes. Then he can serve her in a way that helps her feel more joy, more satisfaction, and more fulfillment within the marriage. Neither of them becomes more married, but they can get more enjoyment within the marriage.

The same thing for Christians. At the moment we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior we are saved from the penalty of our sins. We can’t be more saved. But through the process of SANIT-ificiation we can experience more joy, more satisfaction, and more fulfillment within our relationship with Jesus.

My paraphrase of 1 Peter 1:15-16—But just as He who called you has paid for your once-for-all saint-ification, so keep on being saint-ified in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

What about you? Are you satisfied with just being saved, or are you striving for a joy-filled, more fulfilling, increasingly satisfied relationship with Jesus Christ? It can truly be a wonderful both-and relationship!

Get together with a friend this week and discuss these application questions:

1. Am I satisfied with just being saved, or am I striving for a joy-filled, fulfilling union with Jesus?
2. How can I develop an “intense concentration on God’s point of view”?

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Pastor Craig announced an ongoing series for all of 2017…

Any architect will tell you: You can’t build a great building on a weak foundation.

This is just as true in the spiritual realm, which is why John Calvin warned, “Those who are strong only in fervor and sharpness, but are not fortified with solid doctrine, weary themselves in their vigorous efforts, make a great noise… [and] make no headway because they build without foundation.”

We have had on the Calvary website since Day 1 a link to “What we believe,” but just recently it occurred to me that we haven’t really talked about these foundational beliefs.

The first Sunday of each month throughout the year, we will be exploring our strong doctrinal foundation. I promise you that this won’t be “dry” theology or doctrine, but it will be an exciting journey of discovery at the foundation upon which we stand.

Please join us this Sunday as we look at our ninth Foundation Stone—what does sanctification mean for the Christian.

Pastor Craig shared a recap of Scott Troost’s Sunday message on his blog…

Without exception, all human beings have exactly 168 hours in a week. No one gets any bonus time and no one has any hours taken away. We’re supposed to get 8 hours of sleep a night, and most of us work about 40 hours each week. So let’s do the math…

In those 72 hours there must be time for eating and taking care of chores. But what about going to church? The problem for many people is looking at church attendance as just another “chore” or item on their “To Do” list.

But instead of thinking of going to church as “I have to,” how about if you looked at all of the “I get to” benefits?

Here are 10 great reasons for going to church regularly. I get to…

1. …draw closer to my Heavenly Father, just like Jesus did (Luke 2:49)
2. …be an example to others (1 Timothy 4:12)
3. …hang out with some really great people (Hebrews 10:24)
4. …get to know Jesus and my brothers and sisters better (1 John 1:3)
5. …reaffirm the priority that God is first in my life (Matthew 6:33)
6. …learn to better understand Scripture (2 Timothy 2:15)
7. …join with a choir of God worshipers (John 4:23-24)
8. …grow spiritually (1 Peter 2:2-5)
9. …complete the Body of Chris (1 Corinthians 12:12)
10. …avoid becoming isolated and possibly lost (Proverbs 18:1)

“Sometimes we make it sound like we’re making a sacrifice to go to church, but think about the very real sacrifice Jesus made so that we could meet together as brothers and sister!” —Scott Troost

How about it? Do you think you could invest an hour or two of your 72 discretionary hours in a local church this week?

My thanks to my brother, Scott Troost, for sharing such a timely message!

Get together with a friend this week and discuss these application questions:

1. In light of today’s message, has my idea of church attendance changed?
2. If so, what do I need to change?
3. Do I know the difference between “reasons” and “excuses”?
4. What can I do to experience all the blessings of fellowship with others?

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Here is a recap Pastor Craig shared from his message yesterday…

One of my favorite stories in the Bible shows God’s role in world events, and how the obedience of His people fits into God’s plan. Yet this story doesn’t even mention God by name!

It’s an important reminder that we don’t have to say, “God’s at work here” for God to be at work here. We don’t have to say, “I’m a Christian” to live in a Christlike way.

Have you ever read the story of Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai? Let me tell you, this is a real page-turner of a story! If you already know the story, skip to the four lessons below. Here’s a quick recap (but you really should read this for yourself)…

• King Xerxes is the ruler of the most powerful nation on earth
• Queen Vashti (Xerxes’ wife) defies him and is deposed
• When the king is looking for a new queen, a young lady named Hadassah catches his eye
• Hadassah went by her Persian name of Esther, so the king didn’t know he married a Jewess
• Mordecai was Esther’s cousin, her legal guardian, and a palace worker
• Mordecai uncovered a plot to assassinate Xerxes, which he shared with Queen Esther, who told the king, who investigated and had the plotters killed
• King Xerxes had a prime minister named Haman, who was really full of himself
• Mordecai wouldn’t bow down to Haman because Haman thought of himself as a deity
• Haman wanted to show Mordecai, and all the other Jews like him, who was boss so he deceived King Xerxes into signing a law that would allow for all the Jews to be killed on a set date
• Mordecai again told Queen Esther about the plot, but the queen was scared to go before the king unsummoned (where the penalty for doing so could be death)
• Esther finally had the courage to approach Xerxes and invite him and Haman to dinner
• At dinner, the king asked Esther why she really invited him to dinner, and Esther said, “Come back to dinner tomorrow night and I’ll tell you then”
• King Xerxes couldn’t sleep that night so he asked for the royal chronicles to be read to him
• The king discovered that Mordecai had never been rewarded for uncovering the assassination attempt
• Xerxes asked Haman what he should do for a man he wanted to honor; Haman thought the king was talking about him, so he gave an elaborate plan of recognition, to which the king replied, “Excellent! Go do all that for Mordecai!”
• Haman was so ticked off that he built a 75-foot tall gallows on which to hang Mordecai
• At the second dinner, Esther asked for her life to be spared; the king wanted to know who would presume to attack her and the Jews, and she called out Haman
• The king stormed from the room while Haman stayed to beg for his life
• As the king returned, Haman was pawing at the queen in desperation, so the king’s bodyguards grabbed him
• The king found out about the gallows built for Mordecai and gave orders for Haman to be hanged on those very same gallows
• Mordecai became prime minister and wrote another law to help save the Jews from annihilation

4 BIG Lessons From Esther for Christians living in a pagan culture today

1. All of History is His Story. God’s timing to bring all of the key players on the scene at just the right moment is obvious. Even giving the king insomnia at just the right time was a part of God’s plan!
2. God gives us favor and we win favor by obeying God. The word “favor” is all throughout this story. God-fearing people are given God’s favor which leads to man’s favor as well.
3. God-following people do make a positive impact on their culture. Esther becoming queen pleased the people, as did Mordecai’s just laws.  
4. Pride humiliates and destroys; humility elevates the person and glorifies God. Just look at the contrast between Haman and Mordecai!

Get together with a friend this week and discuss these application questions:

1. Can I see God at work in “His Story” and in current events?
2. Am I leveraging God’s favor in God-honoring ways?
3. Do I know how to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s?
4. Am I appropriately humble?

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Here’s a recap of the message Pastor Craig shared on Sunday about friendships. Below is the link to the video to watch his entire message. 

Take just a minute to get a clear mental picture of your best friend.

Got it?

Now, think of a few adjectives you would use to describe your best friend.

Did you think of words like loyal … trustworthy … honest … loving … faithful … reliable … authentic … funny … patient ….?

What about godly? Would you describe your best friend with that word? After all, if your friend is godly, wouldn’t he or she also be loyal, trustworthy, honest, loving, and so on?

This gives us an idea of how important friendships are to God. If calling someone “godly” sums up the very best attributes of your very best friend, then that means that you can see God in your friend. And hopefully they can see God in you too!

Jesus told His followers that He viewed them as friends. He told them…

• …how close to God He could bring them (John 14:20)
• …how much the Heavenly Father loved them because they loved Jesus
• …how much He was willing to do for them because of His love (John 15:9-13)
• …how the Holy Spirit would continue to keep them close to God (John 16:12-15)

Eugene Peterson said, “Friendship is not a way of accomplishing something but a way of being with another in which we become more authentically ourselves.”

Your best friend is someone you can be completely real around, right? No games, no masks, just come as you are. And your friend still loves you completely. This is how it is with God as our Best Friend too!

There is nothing you could ever do to make God love you any less, so stop worrying! 

There is nothing you could ever do to make God love you any more, so stop trying!

Friends love us enough to be totally honest with us. That’s why Solomon said, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy only multiplies kisses” (Proverbs 27:6).

Friends want us to have the very best, and to stay on paths that lead to success. So again Solomon wrote, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend” (Proverbs 27:17).

Oswald Chambers tells us, “Friendship with God is faith in action in relation to God and to our fellow men.”

So be assured of God’s friendship with you. Then be God’s friend to those in your life, and allow them to be God’s friend right back to you … THAT’S WHAT REAL FRIENDS ARE FOR!