IS THE BIBLE TRULY THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD?

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Here is the founder and chairman of the citizen of America foundation, Dr. Chris Chris she's welcome to Christian perspective, holy looking God's word in order to develop a Christian worldview and modern culture excited today about our guest's a few months ago I was visiting a church where they were holding a revival service in North Carolina. The preacher was going to be.

You can be met me for this preacher was, but I need a greater vision was coming to sing and I'm a big southern gospel fan and I need a pastor from all over the state of North Carolina may be beyond what can be present exciting night and I wanted to go but that night the guest preacher was a pastor from South Florida. His name is Timothy P and he brought a sermon really, really captivated me talk about the inerrancy of the Bible, and more specifically, the sufficiency of Scripture which is something that every Christian needs to understand you know that the focus of this show is to educate and train our listeners to develop a biblical worldview and then take that biblical worldview into the world in which they live folks how can we have a biblical worldview. If we don't believe in the sufficiency of Scripture pastor Timothy big pastors Fellowship Church in South Florida where he and his wife Jessica serve the Lord. He serves with me on the steering Council, the conservative Baptist network and he's committed to leading the loss to the saving grace of Jesus Christ and impacting the culture for Jesus, pastor, I'm so honored to have you here today.

Welcome to the Christian perspective great.

Thank you for having me good. Be work.

Good to get to know you over the last several months serving together at the conservative network. As you mentioned the chance to meet you in person there, North Carolina. At that church. It was a wonderful night.

That evening, and revival. I think I would bear also your greater good preacher… Important. The greater vision is a wonderful opportunity to meet you. I sure wasn't. Folks if you have not experience southern gospel music. This has nothing to talk about today yet to check it out greater vision.

Now you can Google them there there great group and just her music is wonderful pastor for we get started I want you to our listeners a little bit about you and your background at your wonderful family and your church there in South Florida will be happy to grab didn't really know Florida I will you that are native group in a wonderful Christian home where my dad pastor Wellington executive concert. Most of his ministry and I grew up at a really important church during the time of the conservative resurgence Jacksonville pastor I had growing up with Dr. Junior and Dr. Gary binding. It was in their ministry that I developed a love for God faithfully stood behind the pulpit Sunday after Sunday and walk through passage explaining what it meant illustrating it so that we can grab hold of it and applying it so that we could go out and actually put into practice what an ancient book that was forgotten. It was a living and active book that changed a lot change my life came to the Lord at a young age and the age of 12 youth camp.

God called me to preach and I was just a young kid and didn't know what that meant. I got matured me and my calling and really settled in on got really put in my heart to be a pastor preach faithfully is word day in and day out after my time in middle school, high school went away to college and attended the College of Southwestern Baptist theological seminary. I went there and got a wonderful education and my wife and we could marry coming up on our 10 years. Next year next year and will be 10 years for and she is a wonderful wonderful lady. I tell anyone I get a chance. If you are looking for the brains of the family need to talk to my wife Jessica. He is just a wonderful lady godly Christian woman. And not just so thankful that the Lord brought us together and in 2015 after finishing my Masters degree at Southwestern seminary. John called me down to it town in Southwest Florida called Immokalee Indiantown is out was originally founded and the seminal reservation here in the town and it was an older church within one year being there. We covered 100 anniversary and it was a church that had at one time was very evangelistic, baptizing many people there recognize even in the quarter Baptist convention and the scrimmage of being one of the top churches in baptism for their high but in recent years. It was a church in turmoil in a church in great difficulty did not know that coming into it is the interview process and the calling across all the conversations that I had with the church that we had no clue what we're getting into, but shortly after getting here, we realized it was a revitalization effort, and God has done an amazing work down here in Southwest Florida.

We now have two campuses are one in Immokalee and also one in a planned community called Abe Maria predominantly a Catholic community and it is flourishing as well.

We have a goal now. I called Fellowship Academy. We got a community outreach called Fellowship community services are just so many things got it done in the 6 1/2 years of life being down here and it really has just centered on putting God's word to the past as it is sufficient for all things so it's wonderful, wonderful time. We we are looking forward which is great anticipation of what to do next. Even next year in 2022 side escrows church you preach at both campuses. I do we think are a busy day grows, we have a 9 AM service, and Abe Maria and then we have an 11 AM service in Immokalee at 1520 minute drive traffic. I pray for great traffic.

I prefer no tractors out on the street.

Don't get caught behind tractor going slow down the road and a lot of time but I run in about two minutes before church starts with a couple people and we get off and running with the are you near the Everglades very close have alligators across the road to stop you from getting we do three things we like to do when you're driving will will be alligators all over the place to jump into the topic just a minute, but I have to go back to growing up part of her story. We actually I just realize we have something possibly, and I didn't know about.

So where did you go to high school in Jacksonville.

I went to Provident high school private Christian school there (2006 my junior goodness, you're such a young one, no man is in our lizardlike get on with the story but but anyway we I went to Wilson high school. If you're familiar with Wilson there in the Jackson area so I didn't realize we were cut from the same neck of the woods will anyway so I just want to thank you for being here with us today and and it sounds like God is really blessing ministry in your church and your family and what you're doing but I know that you really have a heart for the sufficiency of Scripture that's been a big tenet of the conservative Baptist network so are our listeners pastor are Christians who we are encouraging to learn more about God's word and then take that biblical worldview into the world where they go and you can't do that if you don't believe the sufficiency of Scripture.

So can you explain to us your understanding of the doctrine of sufficiency of Scripture. Certainly, I don't want to paint a picture that is I've always been a guy who stood on sufficiently. I was raised in the church preach the Bible. But there was a time early on in my preaching ministry.

When I was at Southwestern seminary that the pragmatism was was very important to me. I was a student pastor. I remember saying one time.

It doesn't matter how you get the people in the building as long as you get them in the building, then milk your ductwork. I was working at the school at that moment Prof. who I worked for, heard me say that my doctoral most transformational men in my life and thinking about the sufficiency of Scripture. He called me in his office and for the next one out five hours he taught me the doctrine of the efficiency of Scripture. He said there.

The Bible is not only a book that is inspired.

It's a book that held how we are to live and we need to turn to the Bible first all things pertaining to godliness, but also to life and the person took me to to begin this discussion with second Peter chapter 1 verse three his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, and we understand that the Bible speaks to matters of God when it just seems to make but if we utilize Nancy Piercy's language in her book, total truth. Sometimes we will divide our lives into an upper story and a lower story upper story being the things that are spiritual. The lower story being the things that are physical and more practical and and she shows that the dualistic approach that we have compartmentalized our life in those ways and I did that in a ministry way the practical things were getting people in the room spiritual things were preaching the Bible. What I failed to realize what the Bible actually speaks to the practical things as well and that story thinking became a one story type of thinking when I read this verse and second Peter one believe that everything we need pertaining to life practical and godliness. There is the spiritual comes from the knowledge of him when we know God from his word. So if I'm if I'm to be able to know how live my life and live in such a way that you can't believe that with flex the one whom I serve, I have to be in the word I have to let the Bible drive my thinking drive my practice and any there is no concept of the means justify the know the Bible is going to give me the me and began for what I need to be doing my my journey so the doctrine of sufficiency of Scripture for me settles on this fact and truth that God's word completely holistic leak is what we need for all aspects of life's important truths, pastor, sorry to interrupt you, but you know most pastors today don't preach the whole word of God. George Barna did a survey is a lesson 10% of pastors preach on issues of the whole word of God and most Christians never read their Bible, how can we say we represent a faith if you don't read very book that defines your faith. If we don't find this efficient. We want to read all these self-help books and other books.

But what you're saying is the Scripture, the Bible alone is sufficient for what we need for everything in life.

This show is brought to you by generous jokes coffee company with the Christian perspective, this is the answer that Christians and conservatives have been looking for a coffee company that gives back to causes you care about. Order your copy today at shop generous Joe's.and even subscribe to a subscription coffee plan and never forget the coffee you love or causes you care about certain certain regedit want to breathe absolutely brother it is, it is sufficient for mom and dad and how to parent their children from birth until they leave home as a graduating senior is sufficient for your marriage it for her husbands and wives in their marriage it it sufficient for the single man or woman is sufficient for the business owner. The entrepreneur every aspect of the matter what profession you're in. It doesn't matter what you like. It matter anything that you've been through. Personally the Bible speaks to and we have an entire book of Proverbs that are with them, saying for how to navigate a fallen, sinful world. It amazes me greatly that we will run to our therapist before we will run to the great physician and his word is just it absolutely baffles me will run to a church growth as pastor and read the book of facts will go to a a seminar. Catullus helped to organize ministry or gap ministry will study anything that is in the Bible or how to deal with the issues in our culture. Why don't we open up and look at how the prophets dealt with the issues in Israel. I think it's pastors. If we took more of a prophetic biblical text driven sufficiency of Scripture approach and we would see a country trained with your churches change with their communities change because we would be the heart of man change is only the word of God that can change the heart of miracle. Paul told when he said how are the enemy saved and left one preach it and were told that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word to be like change it's gonna come from pastors laymen people standing and proclaiming God's word as sufficient source all matters of life. You somehow to our listeners practice sufficiency of Scripture in their everyday lives. I think you hit on it to go. How can we claim to be a people of faith who do not even read the book that tells us about that Bible intake is and an all time low I would say I don't have the statistic on it, but I would I would admit this in pastoring and talking to people that biblical literacy is lower than we can imagine. I would say the first thing your listeners need to do the first thing I need to do is get the Bible into my mind. Meditate on it and think on it so I suggest a reading through the Bible every year.

And when you do that that can get to be laborious. It can get to the legalistic. If you're not careful I tell my church members often.

If you miss a day… Looking for you to go make up your checkmark on the day before you double up on today's note just start that begin reading from there now. That means it took you a euro to have to read through the whole Bible because you happily after the year. Okay I got to be pleased, not with our keeping of the letter above the law. But the desire to want to to read his word. I think the first is Bible intake second is being in a church that preaches the Bible you mentioned a second ago about looking at Scripture, and that approach I think churches today. You need to find a church in your community preaches four books of the Bible part of the year 2022. I'm to be preaching through the book of Amos and in preaching through Amos.

There are topics in their probably wouldn't normally deal with it would be something that would naturally come to me. Our church recently walked through the book of first Corinthians, and there are so many topics that are dealt with their you drinking five with the demand caught in adultery – is not something that naturally comes to my mind, I want to preach on because I'm preaching systematically through these books and explaining it, illustrating it and applying it. My people are learning how to live a text driven life and that's really the term I use for sufficiency a text driven life and being a Bible believing church that preaches four books of the Bible read the Bible daily and that if I could recommend a resource to people. It would be a prayer life that is driven by the word as well.

A Donald S Whitney has a great book out of the cannot. 2015 by Crossway, praying the Bible and he starts was teaching you how to play the song if you notice every discipline becomes a discipline of the Bible. Your Bible reading is a discipline your hearing of the word is through the Bible your praying becomes through the Bible. What you'll end up finding at least is what I have found is I become a whole lot more conscious of my decisions. If they're biblical or not.

When I'm taking the Bible in in that type of way to my prayer for my preaching through hearing the word and through reading the Bible as well.

For that is that is so good and such great advice for people listening show today.

I guess the same would be true for pastors who you maybe to said that they haven't been stressing the sufficiency of the Bible that they need to be expository preacher systematically preaching to the books of the Bible and then encouraging their members to read and have a strong prayer life there other things pastors might be able to do to help the people I would sit with them each each year. People are not agreed to pastors, pastors and future people how to study the Bible, they don't we. You don't want to the pastor talk to pastors or disaffected but could be listening.

You don't want to be the sole for the one biblical interpretation in your church. Remember, if you call a free church tradition like I do. As part of the budget. We do not have a paper you are not the one who edicts down like interpretation of the spirit of God live and 12 every single member of your church, you have a responsibility to have a responsibility to is to look. Thank you do the work of ministry what is that ministry that name would live a life that is equipped for every good work will have to get that every good work out. They know that the Scripture is God breathed and profitable for teaching, for proof of correction, for training in righteousness.

How do they know the Scriptures are doing it there taught that so sitting down grabbing members and sitting down with them over a period of a month or two months and helping them to read the Bible for all according read the Bible and interpret the Scriptures and teach them those skills could do so not dependent on you, but in actuality they learn how to be dependent on the spirit of God guide them in the truth is what Jesus held so that's what I would also encourage it is pastors to get out of the study get out the book and get into the homes of their church members open a Bible and around the kitchen table and model for them how to do the family devotion how to study the word together in their home model that invite people over to your house so they can see how you do it as well. Pastor what you think are the two greatest threats to the sufficiency of Scripture in church today I would take pragmatism and consumer definitely pragmatism is the mindset that the meeting justifying the end so that means things shifted any kind long as I get the end goal that I want.

It doesn't matter how I do 80 could be a good thing. It could be a godly thing goodness and godliness is defined by reaching and not by the journey in the process as well and I think pragmatism is undermining the sufficiency of Scripture.

I also think consumerism which is Canada sister to pragmatism, but I think consumerism is also threatening the sufficiency of Scripture we have the mindset that the church is a business. What I mean by that is we have numbers that we Retain in order to be six so we have budget numbers that we certainly have to reach we have a baptism numbers that we set that we have to reach we have giving numbers of national giving numbers that we have to reach attendance numbers that we have to reach in and we look at the competition around the other churches as competing businesses and we wondered over here, growing in their attendant and we start asking ourselves. How do I get the girl and we approach the church in this business mindset and we start looking at the people are the consumer wanted to get more consumers. So I have to take a marketing approach. The reason why my church is not growing or not getting it because I don't have the right landing, branding and marketing had nothing to do with the growth Jesus said a policy will I clean up all is water but God called pastors we've been called to just be faithful to the Scriptures, teaching, preaching and applying them there.

Don't change them according to culture just treats them as their written how to handle the growth and and I think so if we will get out of the business mindset of consumerism. I think we can champion the sufficiency of Scripture more appropriately in a cottage. I love what you said about not changing the Scripture to fit the culture and we've only got a couple minutes left. That leads into perfectly. Do you think that by practicing in and believing the sufficiency of Scripture, we can develop a biblical worldview to change the culture. Yeah I think so. I think the sufficiency of Scripture is simply living a text driven life and the believer who is living a text driven life is going to be about the only responsibility God given to them just to make the final abomination so I text driven person. A person living out the doctrine of the efficiency of Scripture will be seeking to make the Bible and back, culture change, I'm excited when legislation is passed in my state capital or even in Washington that is favorable to a biblical worldview and I think that's wonderful.

But that's not going to bring the change currently in our world today in our nation typically is the possibility of Roe V Wade being overturned and I think that would be a wonderful, wonderful thing and a changing of the culture biblical worldview and the protection of human life, but if I could also say that the way we got to the abortion crisis in our country is because we have a crisis of the heart. We are a law nation in need of the resurrecting power not only come to the right preaching of the gospel so I think the efficiency of Scripture is the only mean of engaging and changing the culture around the believers. You have a biblical worldview and you apply that biblical worldview in the great commission of making disciples. I think you be able to see your neighbor changed by the power of the gospel will free the nation changed by the power of the gospel. Your churches are communities, our country, yes, even our convention change. If we live out the great commission, which is basically living out the doctrine of Scripture. And that's a great way to enter show Pastor Tim is a big thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you so much for having them and I appreciate you your good friend. I pray for you often and what God is doing in your life you can't ever do for you my friend we shall serve few listeners and white photos. Thank you for joining me today on Chris using this is a Christian perspective.

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