Many Christians today are in the habit of not going to church. Most are good-hearted believers, who simply don’t think they need the local church. But Hebrews 10:25 tells us, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.”

Why do we need church? Because the local church is God’s way of shaping us, molding us, and then using us to reach our world. Although there may be people there who rub us the wrong way, that’s part of the genius of Gods design!

He wants to stretch us, and cause us to grow. We may get bothered by the style of this, or the sound of that. But it’s good for us! It’s humbling, it’s purifying, it’s “iron sharpening iron.”

As we are sharpened by others in the church, we become more like Jesus Christ. We also learn how to work with those who are different than us. And working well with other believers is one of the best expressions of Jesus Christ to our world.

So, dream great dreams for your church! Be faithful to it! Pray for it! And get involved. Ask God to use your church to reach your neighborhood, your city, your country for Jesus Christ. That’s exactly what He wants to do!

Do you know someone who is mathematically and scientifically minded? Maybe that person is you! You love experiments. Your thought process is linear. You like equations, evidence and proof.

Now, many argue that science clashes with God. They say that a decent scientist cannot believe in God. However, God never stifles pure science- never. Believing in God actually helps a scientist enjoy his research even more! To put it simply, the Bible does not say to the scientist, “Believe in God, shut your mouth and shut off your brain.”

In fact, the Bible says to the scientist, “Believe in God, the Creator, and enjoy the search for different truths of God’s creation.”

In the Bible, Paul writes to the Romans, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.” You see? All of creation points back to God! Do you have a skeptical, science-minded friend around?

Encourage this person to enjoy science through the lens of faith in God. And God’s written revelation in the Bible. The Bible has power! Get them reading the Bible and you never know what can happen in your life. Their faith will only increase as God reveals Himself through scientific study.

I love China and have visited there several times already in the last 10 years. More than 15 years ago, Billy Graham spoke at some churches in Beijing and Shanghai. After one sermon, an elderly Chinese man came up to Mr. Graham and said (through the interpreter), “What was the name of the man who died on the cross that you told us about?”

Mr. Graham said, “His name was Jesus.” And the elderly Chinese man said, “I have always believed in him, but I never knew his name.” God had revealed Himself to the heart of this Chinese man, but this man just didn’t know some of the details.

From the early days of the creation of man and woman, God has been revealing Himself in people’s hearts. But I also think God had the Bible written so that people could know what they believe and who they believe in and know the details!

Do you know someone who believes in God but does not know Jesus Christ? Encourage this person to read the Bible – especially the Gospel of John in the New Testament. It is God’s inspired Word. It is perfect!

As the prophet Isaiah says in the Bible, “It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Encourage someone today to read the Good Book! Especially as I said the Gospel of St. John.

In a recent conversation I had with an atheist friend of mine, he said, “The Bible is good literature. Integrating Hebrew, Greek and Roman culture, it abounds in beautiful prose, proverbs and poems. What is more, he continued, it has formulated many ethical standards for many people, then and now.”

My friend is exactly right! He understands the essential meaning of the Bible from the writers’ perspective. But what distinguishes a Christian’s belief about the Bible from an atheist’s is that we see the Bible as part of God’s total revelation to man.

God is personal, having created us humans to be in relationship with Himself. And because He is invisible, He chose to reveal Himself in written form through the Bible. Christians believe the Bible is inspired by God.

That even as human authors wrote freely, God made sure the end result was everything He wanted us to know about Him. That’s why we call it inerrancy- it has no errors. In the book of II Samuel in the Bible, it says, “the word of God is flawless.” The more we study it, the better we get to know God and His ways.

Let God reveal something new about Himself to you. Dig in to His flawless Word today. It does NOT disappoint and you will be very spiritually motivated!