Bible Gateway Blog

Today is Good Friday.

Today we remember the agony experienced by Jesus in his death on the cross, crucified by Roman soldiers. As he hung there he uttered “seven last sayings:”

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” Luke 23:34

“Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” Luke 23:43

“Woman, behold thy Son” John 19:26

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Mark 15:34

“I thirst” John 19:28

“It is finished” John 19:30

“Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” Luke 23:46

This concludes our review of the biblical day-by-day chronology of events of Passion Week, also known as Holy Week. See the events of Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. For the Infographic detailing the entire week, see our Holy Week Timeline, which we encourage you to download, print, and share with your church or community.

[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Infographic: What Happened During Holy Week Day-By-Day]

Browse resources for Easter in the Bible Gateway Store.

Here’s the close-up look for Good Friday along with the associated Scripture portions: What Happened on Good Friday?

Learn about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus with the valuable Bible reference resources you’ll have access to when you become a member of Bible Gateway Plus. Try it right now!

Bible Gateway is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a new sweepstakes every month this year! Winners have already been selected for the months of January, February, and March. Enter every month!

This month enter for a chance to win a copy of the ESV Reader’s Bible, Six-Volume Set, cloth over board with slipcase (Crossway, 2016), which has a suggested retail value of $199.99 (read a PDF excerpt). One winner will be selected at random. One entry per person; legal residents of the USA 18 years of age and older. Entry period: Mar. 28, 2018 (midnight ET) – Apr. 30, 2018 (11:59 pm ET).

[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Crossway Releases New ESV Reader’s Bible 6-Volume Set]

Once you’ve entered, tell your friends and followers about Bible Gateway’s 25th Anniversary—and what Bible Gateway means to you—in your posts on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media; when you do, use the #MyBibleGateway hashtag to communicate the fun!

[Sign up to receive the English Standard Version (ESV) free email Verse of the Day from Bible Gateway]

[Read the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible translation on Bible Gateway]

Sweepstakes Links:

Click Here to Enter This Month’s Sweepstakes

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Bible Gateway’s 25 Years

Venture back to the year 1993. The first widely used graphical World Wide Web browser, Mosaic (later to become Netscape), was introduced, representing a major turning point in the Internet’s journey toward wide-scale user acceptance; US President Bill Clinton put the White House online; the first ever webcam connected to the Internet; and, topping the news in 1993, Bible Gateway, a fledgling idea in the mind of a college staffer, launched as an internal Bible research tool for college students.

Twenty-five years ago, the nascent World Wide Web accounted for only 1% of telecommunications information flow. By 2007, that number rose to 97%. Today, in the center of the information deluge flowing on the Web, sits BibleGateway.com (@biblegateway), the most-visited Christian website in the world; home to more than 200 Bible versions in more than 70 languages; and a trusted resource for more than 140 million people in more than 200 countries every year. Rely on it every day for all your Bible needs.

Everybody has questions about the Bible. With Bible Gateway Plus, you’ll be ready to answer them! Try it free today!

Today is Maundy Thursday. We’re currently reviewing the biblical day-by-day chronology of events of Passion Week, also known as Holy Week. See the events of Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday. For the Infographic detailing the entire week, see our Holy Week Timeline, which we encourage you to download, print, and share with your church or community.

[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Infographic: What Happened During Holy Week Day-By-Day]

Browse resources for Easter in the Bible Gateway Store.

Here’s the close-up look for Maundy Thursday along with the associated Scripture portions: What Happened on Thursday of Holy Week?

Learn about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus with the valuable Bible reference resources you’ll have access to when you become a member of Bible Gateway Plus. Try it right now!

Have Bible readers missed the point of some scriptural stories by assuming the women in them were “bad girls”? Did Bathsheba seduce King David or was she a #MeToo victim? Was Mary Magdalene really a reformed prostitute? Did the Samaritan woman really divorce five husbands in a world where women rarely divorced even one?

Bible Gateway interviewed Sandra Glahn (@sandraglahn) about her book, Vindicating the Vixens: Revisiting Sexualized, Vilified, and Marginalized Women of the Bible (Kregel Academic, 2018).

Vindicating the Vixens is a collaboration written by an international team of scholars. How did the concept and execution of the book come together?

Sandra Glahn: Vindicating the Vixens: Revisiting Sexualized, Vilified, and Marginalized Women of the Bible has been on my heart for more than a decade. When I served as editor-in-chief of Dallas Theological Seminary’s magazine for many years, I worked with male and female scholars across the world who had a high view of Scripture—and were good writers. In a number of cases their work focused on Bible stories that featured women. And these 14 scholars brought correctives to how many in the West, especially those of us in privileged positions, have interpreted the text. At times we have wrongly sexualized, vilified, and/or marginalized the women we’ve read about. Consequently, we’ve missed how their stories function in the Bible’s overall narrative.

Simultaneously, as I studied history and ancient backgrounds at the doctoral level, my work often validated what these authors were saying. For example, the woman Jesus met at the well in Samaria (John 4) would not have marched into court alone and dumped five husbands before living with some guy. Often on Easter, we remind people that a woman’s testimony was invalid in court at the time. Yet we forget that when we read John 4. It’s more likely that the woman Jesus met at the well had been widowed many times. Ultimately, to eat she probably ended up as a concubine. And if that is true, Jesus was not confronting her with her sin, but meeting her at her point of greatest pain.

I wanted to bring all this research together and include male and female scholars who have a variety of ethnicities and educational backgrounds—but all of whom have at least one advanced degree in biblical studies. We need all eyes on the biblical text to help us see where biases have blinded us.

Who are the women of the Bible that the book features?

Sandra Glahn: We took a fresh look at 16 women, though we could have included more. We begin with the women in Jesus’s genealogy: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and the Virgin Mary. Then we go back and include a sampling from the Old Testament—Eve, Sarah, Hagar, Deborah, Huldah, and Vashti. And from the New Testament we consider the Samaritan Woman, Mary Magdalene, and Junia/Joanna.

Why is it important to re-examine what the Bible says about these women and challenge traditional views of them?

Sandra Glahn: In many cases, we challenge only recent views of these women. People today may think of Mary Magdalene as a reformed prostitute, but the Church Fathers called her the “apostle to the apostles” because she was the first to tell the disciples that Jesus was alive (John 20:18). The only thing the text actually says about her past is that Jesus freed her from seven demons (Mark 16:9).

One reason for a fresh look is that, since the invention of the Internet and email and distance education, our access to information about biblical backgrounds has exploded. But the main reason for a fresh look is that we need to handle the biblical text accurately. And when we find out we’ve misread it, we must have the humility to revisit what God has said and how we apply it.

Additionally, we must acknowledge how our victim-blaming of good women in the Bible has affected how we’ve perceived women. I received an email recently in which a woman wrote this: “I’ve always struggled with the (presumed) fact that there were no female role models in the Bible. I had enough sense to know that this didn’t mean that God doesn’t care about women, but I was frustrated with the apparent lack of representation. [The book] introduced and reintroduced me to characters that I had never considered role models, let alone relevant to the story of the Bible as a whole. I have a passion for the exhortation and empowerment of women … and it’s encouraging to feel that same empowerment come from God, himself, through his word.”

I’ve been working on this project for ten years. So who could have imagined the book would release at a cultural moment when #MeToo and #ChurchToo would be dominating social media, the Grammy Awards, the news…? Bathsheba’s experience is a #MeToo story. The Bible is as relevant today as it’s always been. And we’re at a unique time in history—a time in which we’re realizing that our wrongly sexualizing and marginalizing women in the Bible reveals something to us about ourselves. It’s not only “out in the world” where thinking about women has been distorted.

Some women in the Bible most certainly fall into the category of “bad girls.” How do those women differ from the ones discussed in the book?

Sandra Glahn: It’s not our desire to vindicate women unworthy of vindication—Potiphar’s wife and Jezebel come to mind (though many think Jezebel’s sin was sexual because she put on eye makeup, and that’s inaccurate—see 2 Kings 9:30). Lots of women pegged as “bad girls of the Bible” deserve that moniker. We’re interested only in vindicating those wrongly sexualized, vilified, or marginalized.

When discussing the genealogy of Jesus outlined in Matthew 1, it’s not uncommon to point out the few women included and refer to their sordid past. Why do we have the tendency to focus on the negatives of their history, especially when the men in the bloodline had as many flaws as the women?

Sandra Glahn: Jesus’s genealogy in Matthew (chapter 1) is full of both male and female sinners, but the women’s sinfulness is not the point Matthew is making by including them. By making their sex lives our focus, we misconstrue their actions (for example, Hagar), blame the innocent (for example, Bathsheba) and ultimately miss what the author is telling his Jewish readers.

By even including women, Matthew is up to something. In his Gospel, foreign kings worship Jesus at his birth (Matt. 2). A Roman soldier requests healing for his servant and “amazes” Jesus with his faith (8:5–13). Matthew salts his narrative with the faith of Gentiles. And in the genealogy, Matthew is setting up his readers, the Jewish faithful, to accept cultural and racial outsiders into the community of faith through belief, not blood.

Judah married the Gentile Tamar (Gen. 38). Bathsheba is the wife of a Hittite (2 Sam. 11). Rahab is a Caananite woman (Josh. 2). Ruth is a Moabite girl (Ruth 1). Judah says of Tamar, “You’re the righteous one, not I” (Gen. 38:26). Rahab says she believes in Yahweh Adonai as Elohim (Josh. 2:11). Ruth says Naomi’s God will be her God (Ruth 1:16). Bathsheba suffers a great injustice and is grafted into the royal line. The idea of Gentiles being righteous and included would have blown the minds of Matthew’s readers.

Were you surprised by anything you learned or viewed differently as the chapters of the book came into you from their respective writers?

Sandra Glahn: Yes. When I asked people to contribute, I assumed I’d receive only a chapter from each person showing how we had misinterpreted these women. But the authors pleasantly surprised me by also exploring what we’d missed in the grander narrative by misreading parts of the stories.

When all the chapters came in, I saw a consistency in how God went out of his way to include the marginalized, choose the outsider, and confound the insider/outsider mentality to demonstrate his love for the entire world. That part of the project came as somewhat of a surprise.

Proceeds from the sales of the book will go to benefit the work of the International Justice Mission. Explain the work this organization does.

Sandra Glahn: Those of us who contributed chapters are academicians. It would be difficult for us to spend our days serving on the front lines helping sexualized, vilified, and marginalized people across the world. But International Justice Mission (IJM) does precisely that. So rather than pocketing the profit from book sales, everyone on this project agreed to donate all profits to IJM. Hopefully our years of study can indirectly serve to support the work of those in the trenches.

Bio: Sandra Glahn, ThM, PhD, is a professor in Media Arts and Worship at Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) where she teaches courses on the arts, gender, and human sexuality. She holds a Master of Theology degree from DTS and a PhD in The Humanities—Aesthetic Studies—from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Dr. Glahn is author or coauthor of more than 20 books, including Bible studies in the Coffee Cup Bible Study series and both fiction and non-fiction relating to bioethics, sexuality, and reproductive technologies. She is a regular blogger at Engage, Bible.org’s site for women in Christian leadership, is the owner of Aspire Productions, and previously served as editor-in-chief for Kindred Spirit.

Get access to more than 40 top Bible study resources by becoming a member of Bible Gateway Plus. Try it right now!

We’re in the middle of looking at the biblical day-by-day chronology of events of Passion Week, also known as Holy Week. See the events of Monday and Tuesday. For the Infographic detailing the entire week, see our Holy Week Timeline, which we encourage you to download, print, and share with your church or community.

Browse resources for Easter in the Bible Gateway Store.

Here’s the close-up look for Holy Wednesday along with the associated Scripture portions: What Happened on Wednesday of Holy Week?

Learn about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus with the valuable Bible reference resources you’ll have access to when you become a member of Bible Gateway Plus. Try it right now!

This is the twenty-first lesson in author and pastor Mel Lawrenz’ How to Live the Bible series. If you know someone or a group who would like to follow along on this journey through Scripture, they can get more info and sign up to receive these essays via email here.

Just released: A Book of Prayers for Kids by Mel Lawrenz (a perfect Easter gift for the kids you know and love).

[For the Easter season: Knowing Him: Devotional Readings About the Cross and Resurrection by Mel Lawrenz]

At the center of living the Bible is living the Christ-life. As the Apostle Paul put it: “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” What follows are some reflections on the crucifixion and the resurrection.

How To Live the Bible Crucifixion Bruegel illustration

THE CRUCIFIXION

They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. — Matthew 27:33-37

Now came the time for the clash between good and evil, heaven and hell. The crucifixion of Jesus is both the most horrific moment in human history, and humanity’s only hope. That’s why we call the Friday before Easter, Good Friday.

Jesus’ followers were still too weak to understand, and so they scattered. The religious elite carried out their plot. The political leaders passed the buck, and in the end, they discarded Jesus for the sake of convenience. The crowds gawked. Two thieves hung on either side of a man whose crime was hard to comprehend. The placard above his head announced with biting sarcasm: King of the Jews. That must have attracted some attention.

We know of seven things Jesus said from that cross, including a pronouncement of forgiveness for the soldiers, provision for the care of his mother, and a plea for something to wet his parched mouth. But the last words on that last day of his natural human life were the most important: “It is finished!” (John 19:30). That was not a cry of resignation, nor capitulation or surrender. It was a shout of victory that all that God had planned for the restoration of sinful human beings was now accomplished. Now there could be justification! Redemption! Reconciliation! All that needed to be done for the debt and scar of sin had been done. Forgiveness was now free.

All that remained was for Jesus to step out from the shadow of death, which he would easily do after a few days. But first, the disciples had time to search their hearts for how something good could be found in something so bad. And the enemies of God disappeared into the darkness of their own duplicity.

Ponder This: How does the crucifixion of Jesus most powerfully impact you?

THE RESURRECTION

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” — John 20:1-2

How difficult was it for the One who is Lord of the universe—who had a hand in creation itself, who is the very force of life that holds living things together—to wake up from the sleep of death and set aside the burial cloths draping his body?

As was always the case, Jesus’ revelations of himself did not happen with television cameras focused on him. Not even a respectable crowd was gathered. An alarming word from young Mary Magdalene about Jesus’ body being gone produced a panic and a footrace among two of Jesus’ beloved disciples, Peter and John. One looked and merely saw the emptiness of the tomb; the other saw the connection between this moment and the mysterious words of Jesus—and he believed.

Now things were really complicated and the disciples went home. So Jesus first appeared to a brokenhearted Mary who stayed at the tomb. Mary was the first to behold something the world had never seen before—a resurrected, transformed life.

Resurrection day for Jesus was simply the first installment of a resurrection of masses of people when this era of the history of the universe draws to a close. What God promises to those who belong to Jesus is not the loss of self into a nothingness bliss, but the resurrection and remaking of everything that is right and good in the world he created. And until then, he invites us to begin living transformed lives, continually shaped and changed by the hope of the redemption of all that God has made.

Ponder This: Where in your life do you need the resurrection power of Jesus at work today?

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Available now, the Easter devotional, Knowing Him: Devotional Readings About the Cross and Resurrection by Mel Lawrenz. Get it now.

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[If you believe this series will be helpful, this is the perfect time to forward this to a friend, a group, or a congregation, and tell them they too may sign up for the weekly emails here]

Mel Lawrenz (@MelLawrenz) trains an international network of Christian leaders, ministry pioneers, and thought-leaders. He served as senior pastor of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, for ten years and now serves as Elmbrook’s minister at large. He has a PhD in the history of Christian thought and is on the adjunct faculty of Trinity International University. Mel is the author of 18 books, including How to Understand the Bible—A Simple Guide and Spiritual Influence: the Hidden Power Behind Leadership (Zondervan, 2012). See more of Mel’s writing at WordWay.

By Lee Strobel

Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:1-5

Duane Miller’s greatest enjoyment came from preaching at his small church and singing songs of worship. It wasn’t just his livelihood to lead a Baptist congregation in Brenham, Texas; it was his passion, his calling, and his source of joy and satisfaction.

When he awoke with the flu one Sunday morning, his throat was like sandpaper and his voice would “catch” on words. Each syllable was painful to speak. The flu soon disappeared, but his windpipe remained ablaze and his voice reduced to a raspy whisper. His throat felt constricted, as if someone were choking him.

[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Do Miracles Happen?: An Interview with Lee Strobel]

For all practical purposes, Miller’s voice was gone. No longer able to preach, he resigned from his pastorate. He eventually landed a government job researching records—a position he then lost because his inability to speak meant he couldn’t testify in court about his findings. Insurance stopped covering his treatments, and he faced thousands of dollars in medical bills.

“For the first time in my life, I felt utterly useless. My income, my future, my health, my sense of well-being, all were suddenly beyond my control. It was a terrifying and humbling experience,” he said.

Over three years, he was examined by 63 physicians. His case was even scrutinized by a Swiss symposium of the world’s leading throat specialists. The diagnosis: the flu virus destroyed the nerves of his vocal cords, rendering them limp. When Miller asked about his prognosis for recovery, a doctor told him, “Zero.”

Despite Miller’s protestations, his former Sunday school class at First Baptist Church of Houston prevailed on him to speak. A special microphone was used to amplify Miller’s soft, hoarse, croaky voice—and the class agreed to endure the grating sound because of their love for him and his teaching.

Ironically, his text was Psalm 103, where the third verse reads, God “heals all your diseases.” Miller said later, “With my tongue, I was saying, ‘I still believe that God heals,’ but in my heart, I was screaming, ‘But why not me, Lord?’”

He went on to the next verse, which says the Lord “redeems your life from the pit.” He told the class, “I have had, and you have had, in times past, pit experiences.”

As soon as he said the word pit, the choking sensation disappeared. “Now, for the first time in three years, I could breathe freely,” he recalled. “I heard a gasp from the crowd, and that’s when I, too, realized my voice had come back. I could hear myself!”

His stunned audience began to clap and cheer, shout and laugh; his wife, Joylene, broke down in tears. “I don’t understand this right now,” Miller stammered—with a fresh, new voice.

The dramatic moment of Miller’s recovery had been captured on audiotape, which went viral. Subsequent doctor examinations showed his throat looks like it never had any problems; in fact, against all odds, even the scar tissue has disappeared.

Said one physician, “Even if I could explain how you got your voice back by coincidence—which I can’t—I could never explain what happened to the scar tissue.”

Today, Miller is pastor of Pinnacle Church, serving the Cedar Creek Lake area of Texas. Ironically, he also hosts a daily program on a Dallas radio station—yes, using his voice to tell others about the God who he is convinced still performs miracles.

“You see, God didn’t just restore my life,” he said. “He amplified it.”

At his website, you can listen to the tape of when his voice came back. Then ask, “Is this a supernatural act of God? Or is it better explained as some sort of spontaneous remission that only coincidentally occurred while he was quoting the Bible on healing?”

It’s clear where Miller stands. He is as perplexed as anyone why he was selected for such dramatic supernatural action. “I can’t give you ‘ten principles to prepare for God’s healing,’” he said. “It wasn’t my faith, it wasn’t my response, it wasn’t my obedience, I didn’t earn a thing. I just received His unearned favor.”

And he is not alone when it comes to believing in miracles, according to a 2004 survey, which showed that 55 percent of US physicians have seen results in their patients that they would consider miraculous. Furthermore, three-quarters of the 1,100 doctors surveyed are convinced that miracles can occur today—a percentage that’s actually higher than that of the US population in general. So maybe it’s not surprising that six out of ten physicians said they pray for their patients individually.

The big issue, however, is whether belief in supernatural occurrences is based on mistake, misunderstanding, fraud, legend, rumor, wishful thinking, confirmation bias, the placebo effect—or reality.

In other words, does a miracle-performing God actually exist, and has he left his fingerprints all over supernatural events throughout history down to the present age? Is he even available to intervene in your life today?

That’s what I set out to determine in writing The Case for Miracles. I’ve done the investigation; I’ve made the case; I’ve rendered my verdict. Now’s your opportunity to explore the evidence and render yours.

________

Adapted from The Case for Miracles: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for the Supernatural by Lee Strobel. Click here to learn more about this title.

In The Case for Miracles, New York Times bestselling author Lee Strobel trains his investigative sights on the hot-button issue of whether it’s credible to believe God intervenes supernaturally in people’s lives today.

The book starts with a provocative interview in which America’s foremost skeptic builds a seemingly persuasive case against the miraculous. But then Strobel travels the country to quiz scholars to see whether they can offer solid answers to atheist objections. Along the way, he encounters astounding accounts of healings and other phenomena that simply cannot be explained away by naturalistic causes. The book features the results of exclusive new scientific polling that shows miracle accounts are much more common than people think.

What’s more, Strobel delves into the most controversial question of all: what about miracles that don’t happen? If God can intervene in the world, why doesn’t he do it more often to relieve suffering? Many American Christians are embarrassed by the supernatural, not wanting to look odd or extreme to their neighbors. Yet, The Case for Miracles shows not only that the miraculous is possible, but that God still does intervene in our world in awe-inspiring ways. Here’s a unique book that examines all sides of this issue and comes away with a passionate defense for God’s divine action in lives today. Learn more about this book at CaseForMiracles.com.

Lee Strobel was the award-winning legal editor of The Chicago Tribune and is the bestselling author of The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, The Case for a Creator, and The Case for Grace. With a journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale, Lee has won four Gold Medallions for publishing excellence and coauthored the Christian Book of the Year. He serves as Professor of Christian Thought at Houston Baptist University. For more information, visit LeeStrobel.com.

How can a person have courage in a world that is increasingly hostile to Christian beliefs and values? How can you best overcome being fearful, apathetic, and detached? What is courageous humility?

Bible Gateway interviewed Michael Anthony (@CourageMatters) about his book, A Call for Courage: Living with Power, Truth, and Love in an Age of Intolerance and Fear (Thomas Nelson, 2018).

What do you mean when you write, “When you live for God in secret, he can make great moves through you in public”?

Michael Anthony: Integrity is being the same person in public that we are in private. While God can use anyone and anything to accomplish his purpose (he spoke through Balaam’s donkey, as recorded in Numbers 22), godly character is a vital ingredient if we want to be used by God consistently. 2 Timothy 2:20-21 (NIV) says, “In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”

The Bible teaches that our public influence for God is maximized and most consistent when our private devotion to him is genuine; where no one else may see it.

Why do you believe many Christians have only the most basic understanding of the Bible and why is that a problem?

Michael Anthony: One reason is that a good number of churches do a great job at evangelism – but few have a well thought-out process for taking people deeper in Christ once they’re saved. The Great Commission is not just about evangelism. It’s about discipleship. Jesus said, “go and make disciples . . . teaching them to obey everything I commanded” (Matthew 28:20, italics mine, for emphasis).

A disciple is someone who is constantly looking to go deeper in Christ—but pastors and church leaders need to see depth as the bulls-eye for which they’re aiming, or they’ll unintentionally miss the mark of Jesus, which is growth, depth of character, and Christ-likeness.

If Christ-like character is presented as a mist in the pulpit, it’ll be a fog in the pew. Shepherds need to lead their sheep to depth in Christ, teach the Bible, and apply it to the 21st century.

How do you see Christians misapplying 2 Chronicles 7:13-14?

Michael Anthony: 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 isn’t a call for intercession, but for repentance. The verses don’t address the people of the world, but God’s people. They applied to the nation of Israel, yet the principle is timeless for us, today. When God wants to change the world, his people need to walk humbly with him.

Humility and repentance are inseparable. The great need today is a real movement of repentant humility to radiate from the church; a revolution of what I call in the book, “courageous humility.” Real change needs to begin in God’s house. We shouldn’t wait for it to come through the White House, or from the people in the world. Whenever God wants to do a mighty work, a thorough house cleaning is in order.

Who are heroes of the Bible to whom you point in the book as those who should be emulated by Christians today?

Michael Anthony: In chapter 3, “Heroes and Underdogs,” I go through this in detail—with the purpose of helping the reader understand that God has only and always had imperfect people to work with. Every character in the Bible we see God using powerfully is an example we can look up to and learn from today.

Studying the lives of people in the Bible is a great way to learn lessons from their successes. It’s also a great way to learn from their failures, so we don’t repeat them. In modern times, I think Billy Graham is one of the greatest examples of courageous humility we can all learn from. He’s one of my heroes, and his life and ministry still impacts me to this day, and will until I die.

In your book, you explore the relationship between courage and humility. Can you explain what the relationship is and what led you to explore it?

Michael Anthony: Godly courage is the byproduct of humility. That’s what I found in my times wrestling with—examining my own failures and immersing myself in—the Bible. Courage and humility are not at odds with each other, but two sides of the very same coin.

A number of years ago I began studying the lives of biblical characters, looking for traits they had, while examining deficiencies in my own life. I was struck by the presence of godly courage whenever there was real humility. I’m still struck by this reality, and I find it deeply motivating.

Whenever I’m fearful before people, it’s usually a sign that I’m no longer pursuing humility before God. My courage ebbs and flows in proportion to my submission to Jesus. This is universally true—for everyone—and it’s why I wanted to write about it in A Call for Courage.

Is the Bible primarily a book of exceptions or examples?

Michael Anthony: Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out what I think! But more importantly, this is a question everyone needs to answer once and for all—because the answer determines how you’ll live, or not live, for God. I’ll give you a hint, though, and say that I think many people think the examples of how God used other people in the Bible are exceptions, and that’s one reason why we don’t attempt or accomplish otherwise incredible things for God.

Many of us talk about having faith and doing great things for God—but then we exclude ourselves from the process. Yes, there are exceptions in the Bible, and plenty of them. But if someone believes the Bible is primarily a book of exceptions, they miss one of the main points of why God gave us the Bible in the first place.

What is the practical outworking of “speaking the truth in love” in a post-modern culture that doesn’t believe absolute truth (distinct right and wrong) exists?

Michael Anthony: The practical outworking of “speaking the truth in love” in a post-modern culture is that while people may not agree with the idea of truth, or our understanding of the truth, when they experience our genuine concern, compassion, and love, they cannot ignore the truth. Ephesians 4 says we’re to speak the truth in love. It’s not one or the other; it’s both.

Love is what opens the door to having an audience for the truth. Truth is a difficult thing to continually dismiss if love is relentless. And love is the ingredient that needs to be revived in much of our attempts to deliver the truth. God doesn’t call us to merely win arguments, but to win souls. Souls are won over when the truth is delivered, consistently, with genuine love. People can sense love even if and when they reject our truth.

Jesus was known as a friend of tax collectors and sinners. He delivered truth with a clear reputation for loving those who needed to embrace it. When we embrace Jesus’ approach, we too will be known as friends of the same kinds of people. In fact, unless we are, I’m not sure we’re embracing truth and love. It may be a sign that we’re missing the ingredient that made Jesus’ delivery of the truth so magnetic among the lost: love.

What are practical steps you lay out in the book for people to achieve “humble courage”?

Michael Anthony: When I wrote A Call for Courage, I wrote it as a book designed to spark a personal revival in the life of the reader, and in his or her family and church. It’s a book designed to spark and sustain a movement of courageous humility throughout America, beginning in the church. Humble courage is not about a technique, but about an entirely new way of life based upon the teachings of Jesus.

A Call for Courage is a manifesto of how to develop humble courage. This is why there are pull quotes emblazoned in every chapter, so the key points are unmistakable, and it’s why every chapter ends with a brief summary and specific action steps the reader can take to apply what they just read. Humble courage is not about applying a few new techniques. It’s about (re)discovering biblical Christianity in all its power.

What is a favorite Bible passage of yours and why?

Michael Anthony: My favorite Bible passages are John 4:23-24:
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

And Romans 12:1-2: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

The reason I love these verses is because God used them powerfully in my life during real revivals I experienced in the Solomon Islands. They shaped the entire focus of my life and ministry, and helped me understand that true worship requires a surrendered life. Without surrender, there is no worship.

What are your thoughts about Bible Gateway and the Bible Gateway App?

Michael Anthony: I love Bible Gateway and your app because you’re a great source for people to go deeper with God through the Bible. In today’s world, depth with God is more important than ever, and Bible Gateway helps people go deeper with God by getting them into his word.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

Michael Anthony: Most of the lessons I’ve learned in life, I’ve learned through failure. If anyone is reading this and feels like they’re a failure, or they don’t measure up, I’d encourage him or her to learn from their mistakes and share them with others to spare them hardships. Failure is only failure when we’re not willing to learn and grow.

Thank you so very much for the honor of being your guest here on Bible Gateway!

A Call for Courage is published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the parent company of Bible Gateway.

Bio: Michael Anthony is the author of A Call for Courage: Living with Power, Truth, and Love in an Age of Intolerance and Fear. He is a popular speaker and blogger (The Courage Matters™ app, @CourageMatters, and CourageMatters.com), founder of the National Week of Repentance™, and lead pastor of Grace Fellowship in York, Pennsylvania (GraceYork.com). He and his work have been featured in major publications and news outlets, such as The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Fox, CNN, ABC News, CBS News, Townhall.com, American Family Radio, The Christian Post, Charisma News, Beliefnet.com, WND.com, and Patheos.com. He lives with his family in York, Pennsylvania.

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Do you know the biblical day-by-day chronology of events of Passion Week, also known as Holy Week? Here’s a close-up view of what transpired in the days leading to the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday. For the Infographic detailing the entire week, see our Holy Week Timeline, which we encourage you to download, print, and share with your church or community.

Browse resources for Easter in the Bible Gateway Store.

Here’s the close-up look for Holy Monday and Tuesday along with the associated Scripture portions: What Happened on Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week?

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The following article by Dr. Jerry Vines is taken from The Vines Expository Bible (Thomas Nelson, 2018).

The Journey of Faith | Genesis 12:1-8

All of us are on the journey of life. We can make the journey in one of two ways. We can make the journey on the basis of what our eyes can see—that’s walking by sight. Or we can make the journey on the basis of what we cannot see—that’s walking by faith.

The Bible says we walk not by sight but by faith (2 Cor. 5:7). God wants each person’s life’s journey to be a journey of faith. Through the life of Abraham, we learn what walking the journey of life by faith really means.

I. The Call of Faith (12:1-3)

Genesis 12:1 says, “Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country.’” Notice that the Bible says that in the life of faith, God always takes the initiative. Somebody said, “I sought the Lord until I finally found Him.” In reality, if you ever sought the Lord, it’s because the Lord had previously searched for you. Jesus said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). God always takes the first step and makes the first move. God reached out to Abram.

A cost is also involved. God told Abram he had to leave his country, Ur of the Chaldeans, and his father’s house.

Sometimes when God sends us, He doesn’t tell us the whole story. But notice that God made seven promises to Abram in Genesis 12:2-3:

“I will make you a great nation”
“I will bless you”—God did indeed bless Abraham
I will “make your name great”—Abram’s name (Abraham as he is referred to later) is revered in the three major religions of the world: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity
“You shall be a blessing”—indeed, Abram has been a blessing
“I will bless those who bless you”—historically, those who have blessed the Jewish people, God has blessed
“I will curse him who curses you”
“In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”—through the line of Abram, this great man who was willing to obey the call of God to faith, ultimately came the Savior. You and I have a Savior whose name is Jesus because of God’s promise to Abraham.

Isn’t this amazing? One act of obedience! God basically says, “Abraham, you follow Me; and if you will, I will bless you seven ways.”

II. The Compliance of Faith (12:4–6)

Here was Abram, settled down, prosperous business, everything going well. God spoke to Abram, telling him to follow His instructions and become a blessing to the world. The Bible says that Abraham obeyed and departed.

Faith is based on God’s Word, and faith is demonstrated by obedience. Total obedience means giving all your time, talent, and treasure. It means giving your totality to Christ. Believers should never be satisfied to be “halfway” Christians. We should go the whole route with the Lord Jesus Christ, giving Him everything we have.

III. The Confession of Faith (12:7-8)

In two symbolic ways, Abram would confess his faith in the Lord. Look at Genesis 12:7: “The LORD appeared to Abram.” When Abram arrived where God had sent him, the Lord was there to greet him. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” This means that the same Jesus who called you to follow Him by faith will meet you where He sends you.

Notice in Genesis 12:8 that Abram did two things: he pitched a tent, and he built an altar. I circled tent and altar in my Bible. Those two symbolic actions demonstrate Abram’s confession of faith in the Lord.

Abram pitched a tent. Back in Haran, he had probably been dwelling in a very nice, luxurious home. From this point on, he began to live in a tent. Why? God had made it clear to Abram that he was to live in a tent as a confession that he understood this world was his temporary dwelling, and that he was going to a city whose builder and maker is God (see Heb. 11:10).

Please don’t get too attached to this old world. Don’t drive your stakes down too deep. If you have responded to God by faith, if you are on the journey of faith, God has promised you a better world. Remember—you are a stranger and a pilgrim.

Abram also built an altar. The Bible says that he called on the name of the Lord. The altar reminded him of his devotion to the Lord—that his all was to be on the altar. We face the same lesson in Romans 12:1 where we’re told to present our bodies as “a living sacrifice.” Have you laid your all on that altar for Jesus Christ? Is Jesus absolutely number one in your life?

Genesis 12:8 also says that Ai was on the east and Bethel on the west. Ai means heap of ruins; Bethel means house of God. Abram’s altar was between his daily choices of direction for his life. Would he move his life toward the heap of ruins, or would he move his life toward the house of God?

Every day in this journey of faith, that’s the decision we must make. We have to decide if we will live toward that heap of ruins, the things of this world, or if we will we live toward Bethel, the house of God.

When you make that decision by faith, when you say goodbye to this old world and hello to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are on the journey of faith.

The above article is taken from The Vines Expository Bible (Thomas Nelson, 2018). Copyright © 2018 by Jerry Vines. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson. www.thomasnelson.com. All rights reserved.

Bio: Dr. Jerry Vines Dr. Jerry Vines (@jerryvines) is a native of Carrollton, Georgia and was educated at Mercer University (BA), New Orleans Theological Seminary (BD), and Luther Rice Seminary, (ThD). He has spent over 60 years as a Baptist pastor/preacher and was elected President of several Pastors’ Conferences throughout his ministry career. Dr. Vines spent 24 years serving as the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida, retiring in 2006 to focus on mentoring and leading a new generation of pastors through his seminars and teaching materials. He and his wife, Janet have four children and seven grandchildren.

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The Journey of Faith | Genesis 12:1-8

I. The Call of Faith (12:1-3)

II. The Compliance of Faith (12:4–6)

III. The Confession of Faith (12:7-8)

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