Month: September 2018

Thanks to @theaaronburden for making this photo available freely on @unsplash

After prayer and pondering, I’ve decided to refocus this blog. Over the years I’ve slipped from excavating to discovering Christ in Christianity to one of writing more of a general topics blog. Starting tomorrow, I’m shifting back. I hope you’ll be blessed by this change. It’s a small change but one that takes us back to the genesis of this site.

I decided to start this blog after one of my sons said he was struggling with his faith. Specifically, he felt that Scriptures did not align. He began calling himself a “red letter” Christian, believing the words of Jesus, printed in red, were true, but he questioned the veracity of everything else.

I understand his perspective, especially in our world where people have confidence that they can reasonably understand anything just by Googling it. If we’re looking for a hotel review or the best deal for new tires or even learning about Lupus on WebMD, Googling is entirely valid. However, this is not the case when tackling 1st-century events that have spawned two thousand years of commentary covering every nook and cranny of the divine Word of God.

Therefore, instead of adding more verbiage and thereby moving us even further from the Truth of Scripture, my goal is to take us on an expedition that unwraps as many layers of commentary as we can so we get down to the bedrock, or more specifically, the Rock, Christ Jesus. We’re going to be discovering, once again, Christ in Christianity.

Ok, this is serious stuff but let’s be joyful. As Jesus said (red letter), “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” – John 15:10-12 (NIV).

As for versions of Scripture, I will use several Bible translations such as NIV, ESV, KJV and so forth. Why? Because we’re excavating to uncover Jesus. No, I’m not implying that any mainstream translations are inaccurate. But each translation carries its own agenda. For example, the agenda of The Message is to make God’s word as accessible as possible to the widest audience of modern readers. That’s good. Still, valuable nuances may be de-emphasized or  lost in translation. As for the KJV, it carries with it a very high level of entry that is quite challenging for those whose primary language is not English. Therefore, as we embark on this journey, I will seek, from mainline translations, the Bible version that most clearly points to Jesus, because that’s my agenda. Tomorrow we start!