Have you ever asked, "What difference am I making with my life?"  Of course you have; we all have on some level.  But if you want a unique way to find an answer, then check out my new book, The Essential Question.  It takes you (or your group or church) on a fast-paced journey through one of the most exciting books of the Bible and builds on the question the Apostle Paul asked, "What shall I do, Lord?"  (Pssst...that's the essential question.) Watch this short video to find out more.

I've got a good friend who's probably a lot like you.  He loves the Bible and does his best to read it and live it every day.  There's one problem.  Some of his friends say the Bible isn’t true, and he's not always sure how to respond.   So I've created a list of the best arguments I can find for the credibility of the Bible. Interested?  Okay, here are my Top 10 Reasons the Bible is True. (If I missed any that are important to you, please add them in the comment section below.  I'd love to hear from you.)

1. Manuscript Evidence.  There are way more copies of the biblical manuscripts, with remarkable consistency between them, than there are for any of the classics like Plato, Aristotle and Socrates.  "There is no body of ancient literature in the world which enjoys such a wealth of good textual attestation as the New Testament."  F.F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?
2. Archaeological Evidence.  Again and again archaeological discoveries have verified the accuracy of the historical and cultural references in the Bible.  The more they dig, the more it confirms the Bible.  “It is important to note that Near Eastern archaeology has demonstrated the historical and geographical reliability of the Bible in many important areas.” E.M. Blaiklock, The New International Dictionary of Biblical Archaeology.
3. Eyewitness Accounts.  The Bible was written by people who witnessed the events it describes; many were persecuted or martyred but never changed their story.  Would you die for something you knew was untrue? “It is no moderate approbation of Scripture that it has been sealed by the blood of so many witnesses, especially when we reflect that they died to render testimony to the faith …with a firm and constant, yet sober, zeal toward God.” John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion.
4. Corroborating Accounts. There are plenty of references in non-biblical sources to the events described in the Bible. The Jewish historian Josephus, born in 37 AD, “provide(s) indispensable background material for the student of…New Testament history. In them, we meet many figures well known to us from the New Testament. Some of his writings provide direct commentary on New Testament references.”  J.D. Douglas, ed., The New Bible Dictionary.
5. Literary Consistency.  The Bible contains 66 books written over 1,500 years by 40 different writers but it tells one "big story" of God's plan of salvation that culminated in Jesus Christ.  You can't even pass a secret around a circle of 12 people and get the same message at the end. “There is indeed a wide variety of human authors and themes (in the Bible). Yet behind these…there lies a single divine author with a single unifying theme.” John R.W. Stott, Understanding the Bible.
6. Prophetic Consistency.  There are over 300 specific prophecies in the Old Testament that are fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.  “The very dimension of the sheer fulfillment of prophecy of the Old Testament Scriptures should be enough to convince anyone that we are dealing with a supernatural piece of literature….God has himself planted within the scriptures an internal consistency that bears witness that this is his Word.” R.C. Sproul, Now That’s a Good Question.
7. Expert Scrutiny. The early church had extremely high standards for what books were judged to be authentic and therefore included in the Bible. A book had to have been written by an Apostle or someone in their immediate circle, had to conform to basic Christian faith and had to be in widespread use among many churches. This was a careful process of “the people of God in many different places, coming to recognize what other believers elsewhere found to be true”; these writings were truly God’s word. G.J. Wenham, J.A. Motyer, D.A. Carson and R.T. France, The New Bible Commentary.
8. Leader Acceptance.  A majority of the greatest leaders and thinkers in history have affirmed the truth and impact of the Bible. "I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong.” Abraham Lincoln.
9. Global Influence.  The Bible has had a greater influence on the laws, art, ethics, music and literature of world civilization than any other book in history.  Can you think of one that even comes close?  “Christianity”, as set forth in the Bible “is responsible for a disproportionately large number of the humanitarian advances in the history of civilization—in education, medicine, law, the fine arts, working for human rights and even in the natural sciences….” Craig L. Blomberg, in Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith.
10. Changed Lives.  From St. Augustine to Martin Luther to Joni Eareckson Tada to countless everyday men, women and children, the words of the Bible have transformed lives unmistakably and forever.  “As unnamed masses of Christians down through the ages have shown us, the Bible is the most reliable place to turn for finding the key to a life of love and good works.” T.M. Moore, The Case for the Bible.

I hope this list helps you become more confident about the Bible.  But don’t forget: whenever you have an opportunity to defend God's Word, be sure to “speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15).  No one listens to an angry Bible reader.  (If I missed any reasons that are important to you, please add them in the comment section below.  I'd love to hear from you.)

"What's the big deal?"

I've always wondered why Jesus scolded his followers for their lack of faith. For example, when the disciples cried out in the storm, or when Peter stepped out of the boat.  It wouldn't have encouraged me to hear, "O ye of little faith" at such times. But a few years ago I think I figured out what Jesus was getting at and the odd thing is, to this day no one believes me.

In December 2002, my wife Carol and I were vacationing in Florida and decided to go bird watching in the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Honestly, birding is not my thing, but Carol loves it so I went to make her happy. We rented kayaks and slowly paddled through the mangrove swamps. Carol was hoping to add to her lifetime list of species. I was just hoping to avoid "Woody," a big alligator the kayak manager warned us about.

After a long hour, I was lagging behind when I noticed a bird that looked different than the others. I took out my binoculars to get a good look. When I caught up with Carol I described what I had seen. She whipped out her bird book but couldn't identify it, so when we returned our kayaks we went to the office for some help.

The ranger spread out a big chart with all kinds of birds and asked me to point to what I had seen. "That one," I said, tapping the bird I saw. The room got quiet. I looked up wondering if I had offended someone. The ranger said, 'Are you sure that's what you saw?" "Yeah," I responded casually, "that's it." The ranger then informed me I was pointing to the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, a rare bird that was extinct. As we left, he chuckled and assured me there was no way I could have seen that bird in his swamp.

Then in 2004, there was a reported sighting of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Arkansas and it made a big stir in the birding world. But when I heard about it I thought, "What's the big deal? I saw that thing two years ago." Now whenever I'm around Carol's birding friends, I tell them about the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. They just roll their eyes.

So what does all this have to do with faith? Simply this: if you don't believe something is possible, you're not likely to see it. And I think that's what Jesus was getting at. Faith is not guaranteeing what God will do. Rather, faith is being certain that "with God all things are possible." That's the kind of childlike faith Jesus wants us to have every day.

The truth is, I'm not experienced enough to know exactly what I saw in the mangrove swamp. But I do know this. That ranger will probably never see the Ivory-billed Woodpecker because, unlike me, he still believes it's impossible.

I’m embarrassed to admit this, but lately I’ve been thinking a lot about Candy Crush.  It's a mobile game that's become a worldwide sensation.  The game has been downloaded 500 million times and played more than 150 billion times.  But the reason I’ve been thinking about it is not what you’d expect.  You see, I believe Candy Crush has a lot to teach us about Bible reading.

I had never heard of Candy Crush until I read the recent article about it in TIME Magazine.  Intrigued, I downloaded the free app to my iPad and iPhone.  Soon I was lining up sets of three fruit candies and enjoying the deep-voice affirmation when I progressed to the next level, "Sugar crush!"

But what does a mindless mobile game have to do with Bible reading? It turns out the secret to the success of Candy Crush, according to developer Tommy Palm, is the habit-formation principles he incorporated into its design; things like keeping the process simple, providing positive feedback and encouraging players to connect on Facebook.

That fascinated me because ten years ago Scripture Union studied habit formation and the Bible. Instead of making daily devotions a heavy-duty study, we asked, “What would make Bible reading an enjoyable, repeatable behavior?” With the help of author and psychologist Dr. Jeff Brown of the Harvard Medical School, we looked at lots of habit-formation research. In the end, the principles that seemed most effective in the devotional life were: a) setting achievable goals, b) making a personal plan of action, c) using a pre-determined schedule, d) tracking one’s progress, and e) having the “soft accountability” of reading the Bible with another person or group.

We then built these principles into our E100® Bible Reading Challenge and the program took off. To date, over 2,500,000 people in dozens of countries and 20 languages, have participated. We’ve partnered with the American Bible Society to distribute E100® to the US Military. And we've even developed a youth edition. Honestly, E100® is growing faster then we ever imagined.

But in the end, the secret to regular Bible reading is not some kind of Candy Crush trickery. It’s what faithful Christians have known for centuries: meeting God in his Word is what brings you back to the Bible every day. SU is now building that approach into all its programs. As the Psalmist said, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:2). That's what people truly crave.

After a week of playing Candy Crush (and progressing to level 23), I permanently deleted the game from my iPad and iPhone; I was wasting too much time on it.  But the good new is I’m still experiencing the joy of meeting God in the Bible every day, and I don’t plan to stop.  Bible crush!

If you're like me, you long for Bible reading revival in America.  The problem is, all the trends are headed in the wrong direction; Bible reading is declining, biblical values are eroding.

That's why I've been intrigued by a growing movement in France, one of the most secular countries in the West.  For the past few years thousands of French citizens have marched in favor of biblical values.  But the most surprising thing is most probably had no idea they were doing so.

What's ignited the protests is a 2013 French law legalizing gay marriage and adoption, the so-called "Marriage for All" law.  In the US, opposition to such laws is often driven by a commitment to God's Word.  But as NPR correspondent Eleanor Beardsley pointed out, in France, "rarely do demonstrators wave signs with Bible verses."

Instead, French opposition is driven by a commitment to parenting; they simply believe children need a father and mother to fully develop.  "The absence of a religious tone to the French protests seems strange," continued Beardsley, "to someone used to the Bible-centric, American opposition to gay marriage."  But it seems to be getting a hearing.

Maybe the French have inadvertently discovered the secret to promoting biblical values to a new generation.  In the past, there was a consensus that the Bible had authority, or at least that it was still "the Good Book."  Billy Graham was famous for proclaiming, "The Bible says...."  Today, people just shrug.

So I wonder if those of us who love God's Word can learn something from the secular French: a better way to promote God's design for the family, for example, is to march for children rather than against gay marriage.  Sure, the Bible has clear teaching on both subjects.  But a secular world will never hear any of it until we stop shouting Bible verses and start lovingly advocating for a biblical worldview.

In the current issue of Christianity Today, I was asked to comment on the following question, "Should Christians read through the entire Bible in one year?" It may surprise you but I came out on the "no" end of the spectrum.  Now hold on. Before you get on my case, let me explain my reasoning.

Because Christianity Today only had space for a small excerpt of my response, here's the full answer I gave them... 

"I’ve never been a big fan of reading through the Bible in a year. I know that makes me seem like a spiritual weakling. All my life I’ve been taught that the strongest Christians use the 'snow plow method;' they start in Genesis at the beginning of the year and plow all the way to Revelation by the end. The problem is most people never get past February, which I call Bible Bail-out Month; that’s when they hit Leviticus and give up. 

The truth is reading through the Bible in a year is a good thing; I’ve done it several times myself and believe it should be on the spiritual bucket list of every Christian. I just think we should avoid making it our default methodology. So regardless of which Bible reading plan we use, let’s agree that the most important thing is not how much Scripture we read every year. It’s how much Scripture we apply every day."

So what do you think? Should Christians read through the entire Bible in one year?  Feel free to add your comment to this blog.  Thanks!

Piers Morgan interviewing Rick Warren on CNN

Lately I've noticed two trends in the media.  First, more interviewers are questioning the traditional view of marriage.  OK, that's not new.  But second, most of the questions are biased. Shouldn't there be marriage "equality"?  Shouldn't we be allowed to "love" whoever we want?  The agenda is obvious, but that's not what bothers me.  What bothers me is that in all the hubbub, Christians are missing a great opportunity to promote the Bible.

Recently Rick Warren was interviewed on CNN's Piers Morgan Live.  When Warren was asked, "How can you say you're for equality of all people if gay people can't get married?" he referred to the Bible.  Morgan pounced, "Yes, but there are many things in the Bible that just wouldn't fly today."  Warren did a masterful job of standing up for the biblical view of marriage, and even got applause when he said, "I fear the disapproval of God more than I fear your disapproval, or the disapproval of society." 

But it was at this point that Warren could have turned the tables.  Imagine if he would have said, "So let me ask you something, Piers.  On what basis do you determine right and wrong?"  Simply dismissing the Bible as "anachronistic," as Morgan did later in the segment, is not a good answer.

As followers of Jesus, we should always be respectful of others.  So when people casually dismiss the credibility of the Bible we shouldn't blow up.  But we shouldn't let it go, either.  Instead we should ask about their reference point for morality and truth, and then guide them back to ours, the Bible.

What if Rick Warren would have added, "You know, Piers, a lot of people say they don't agree with the Bible but they've never read it," then turning to the camera, "so I'd challenge every one of your viewers to get a Bible and read the Gospel of John.  It'll only take about 30 minutes.  Then you can decide for yourself if it has the ring of truth"?

I'm thankful for leaders like Rick Warren who defend the Bible in the real-time media arenas of today.  But all of us will have opportunities to defend the Bible in our day-to-day conversations, so maybe it's good to remember what Mark Twain once said, "It ain't those parts of the Bible I can't understand that bother me, it's the parts I do understand."