Marked Pages

I’m always on the lookout for good devotional guides. I find though that the best ones for me are usually those that do more than present a little story attached to a verse. Somehow, that doesn’t quite grip my attention very much. The ones I like best focus much more on a Bible passage, together with its context as well cross-references and a reflection at the end. Others that I appreciate are, more usually than not, classics (must be a reflection of age and agedness …). So, after a long blogging hiatus, this post is dedicated to devotionals I have loved and used.

Through the Bible, Through the Year by seasoned teacher and preacher, John Stott, is what I am currently using. I find it most helpful as a daily reflective reminder of  God’s hand in creation and in my life. It is a great encouragement to me, just being able to anchor myself solidly in biblical narrative every morning. If I have time, there are the passages for further reading that I can go on to; and if not, the commentary of the primary passage gives enough thought to carry me through my day.  I love this.

D.A. Carson is one of my all-time favourite writers. He is incisive and precise, with a very dry and wicked sense of humour that I appreciate. Most of the time though, he is deadly serious about the Bible. For the Love of God is a tw0-volume devotional that I will always go back to, again and again, for the richness and depth of the Word that I find there. But only go in this direction if you want much, much more from your Quiet Time Bible Reading. Otherwise, “Trespassers Beware” …

 The picture above features Vol. 1. Here’s Vol. 2 below:

Here’s one by John MacArthur called Drawing Near. It’s quite practical and serves as a neat companion to studying the Bible.

Years ago, I was quite enamoured of the Puritans (still am), and used to lay my hands on whatever books they wrote with relish. I came upon this devotional which features selected readings by the English Puritans, called, most obviously and unremarkably, Day By Day with the English Puritans:

You get a very wide range of Puritan writers in here. My favourites are represented too: Jeremiah Burroughs, John Flavel, and Richard Baxter (pastor par excellence).

Those of you more inclined to less pedantic language and writings, and who prefer things that tug at the heartstrings, look forward a couple of hundred years to the 19th century and early 20th century: I have used both Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon, and Streams in the Desert and Springs in the Valley by Mrs. Charles. E. Cowman. Both are popular perennials, much-loved and much-used.

By the way, the full text for Spurgeon’s devotional is available on-line. Check these sites: www.spurgeon.org, www.heartlight.org, www.ccel.org.

Likewise, the text is available on-line at these sites: openlibrary.org, www.crosswalk.com.

Lastly, I received a copy of Daily Light for Every Day by Anne Graham Lotz last Christmas. This is a tidy and handy little devotional that features verses tied by themes. That’s right, it’s all Bible verses put together in little passages (around a similar theme) for daily use. I like it because it is a pocket-sized dynamo with just God’s Word to uplift and encourage.

This is just a sampling of the devotional materials I have loved and used. Doubtless, there are many more out there. I’ll be off fishing for them pretty soon. In the meantime, enjoy!

Refuting some of the claims of sceptics.

Claim #1: The disciples stole the body. 

The cowardly disciples were in no position to face Roman soldiers at the tomb and steal the body.  We have already seen that they could not have rolled the boulder away without attracting the guards’ attention. Even less likely is their pushing past the soldiers to get into the tomb, steal the body, then sneak off carrying an embalmed corpse without any passer-by noticing them.

Claim #2: It wasn’t Jesus’ body in the tomb

The switch theory claims that there was a substitute who died on the cross. After His ‘body’ disappeared, the real Jesus turned up, claiming to have been resurrected. This theory cannot explain several things the post-resurrection eyewitnesses saw, like Jesus’ nail prints on His hands and feet or the wound on His side where He was speared. It does not explain why the disciples were so fearful and in hiding. If this were a conspiracy, they would have been confident of Jesus’ resurrection. The fact is, even the disciples doubted the women’s story about the empty tomb (Mark 16: 11).

Claim #3: The disciples went to the wrong tomb

Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” were at the tomb when Jesus was buried, so they knew which tomb to go to. The tomb belonged to Joseph of Arimathea. He would have known where his own tomb was (Matthew 27: 59-60). The Jewish authorities, who asked for a Roman guard to be stationed at the tomb to stop anyone from stealing jesus’ body, would not have been mistaken about the location. The Roman soldiers also knew which tomb to guard. If it were just a matter of a geographical mistake, the Jewish authorities would have quickly produced the body from the right tomb and stopped all talk about resurrection.

Claim #4: The disciples were overcome with grief and hallucinated

Hallucinations are internal events created by the mind. It is very unlikely that several people should have the exact same hallucination. This theory also does not explain away the fact of the empty tomb.

Claim #5: Jesus didn’t die on the cross; He only fainted, and recovered in the tomb

This swoon theory suggests that Jesus fainted on the cross. Later He revived in the tomb and recuperated. Is this possible?

First, Jesus was scourged by Pontius Pilate. Scourging was so vicious that victims often died from it before even being crucified (Matthew 27: 26). Jesus would have lost much blood at this point, significantly weakening him.

Then, He was crucified. Crucifixion is a violent and horrible punishment resulting in asphyxiation or heart failure. After Jesus died, the Roman soldier pierced His side to make sure of that. If Jesus had not yet died, He would certainly have from the spear piercing His heart and lung (John 19: 33-34).

Thus it seems unrealistic that Jesus would have survived such torture and blood loss, allowed Himself to be wrapped up in grave clothes, then recuperated in the tomb for three days without medical help, food or water, and emerge (after pushing back the boulder), claiming to have been resurrected.

In the final analysis, resurrection seems to be the only reasonable conclusion we can draw after raking all this evidence together. But the best testimony of Jesus’ resurrection is the disciples themselves.

The ‘Before’ and ‘After’ portraits of the disciples indicate that something truly dramatic happened to them three days after the death of Jesus. From being a scared and depressed group, they suddenly changed into bold testifiers of the resurrection of Jesus in the book of Acts.

What caused the dramatic change in them from being cowardly men to brave and bold preachers? Why did they refuse to stop telling the world about Jesus even under pain of torture and arrest? Why were they willing to die for the resurrection story if it were a lie? All these questions throw doubt on the sceptics’ claims.

Something earth-shattering happened on that first Easter morning. Jesus was indeed risen from the dead. He conquered death as He said He would. And that made all the difference to their lives.  

“And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15: 17)

Main References:

Holman QuickSource Guide to Christian Apologetics by Doug Powell

I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek

Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell