PREACHING THIS MORNING...'Overcoming the World' from 1 John 5:1-12. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world.

HARVARD CELL VIDEO

I showed this amazing video to our high school Bible class--'Is There a God?'--last week. Can you say irreducible complexity?

PREACHING THIS MORNING...'What the Scribe Wrote: The Khirbet Qeiyafa Inscription', an examination of the discovery that provides physical evidence of that the Hebrews had writing as early as the 10th Century. Such discoveries can help bolster our confidence in Scripture and be used as evidence to help convince others.

BREAKING NEWS: BIBLE POSSIBLY WRITTEN WHEN IT CLAIMS!

News of the Khirbet Qeiyafa fragment is filtering into the mainstream press, and continues to undermine the long accepted position of Biblical minimalists who have argued that the Bible could not have been written when it claims to have been written:

The breakthrough could mean that portions of the Bible were written centuries earlier than previously thought. (The Bible's Old Testament is thought to have been first written down in an ancient form of Hebrew.)

Until now, many scholars have held that the Hebrew Bible originated in the 6th century B.C., because Hebrew writing was thought to stretch back no further. But the newly deciphered Hebrew text is about four centuries older, scientists announced this month.

"It indicates that the Kingdom of Israel already existed in the 10th century BCE and that at least some of the biblical texts were written hundreds of years before the dates presented in current research," said Gershon Galil, a professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa in Israel, who deciphered the ancient text.

Archaeology continues to vindicate Scripture, and the more this is realized on a popular level the better.

R.L. ALLAN PERSONAL SIZE REFERENCE

This little beauty arrived a few weeks ago, a lovely pre-Christmas present. It's my second Bible from the Scottish firm of R.L. Allan, both ordered through the good folks at EvangelicalBible.com. It is in single-column format (my preference) and is bound in Red Alhambra goatskin. In the second and third picture is the PSR with its R.L. Allan and ESV older brother bound in tan highland goatskin. And at the bottom is a Bible stack (loved by all readers of the dangerous Bible Design Blog) with a goatskin Cambridge Pitt Minion helping to form an ESV stairstep (click on each for a bigger image).

THE KHIRBET QEIYAFA INSCRIPTION is being closely followed by friend of Theosebes, the globetrotting Luke 'Indiana' Chandler, here and here. The inscription is--and this is like a broken record with archaeological discoveries these days--challenging the 'accepted' timeline and understanding of the Bible by liberal critics while strengthening the case for Scripture.

The inscription testifies to the fact that the Hebrews were literate much earlier than claimed by Biblical critics. If the early Hebrews did not have writing, then early books such as the Pentateuch could not have been written until much later than Scripture claims.

'LET IT SNOW, Let It Snow, Let It Snow', a new bulletin article now posted at the Hickman Mills church website.

PREACHING THIS MORNING...'Living For Jesus', in keeping with our congregational theme for 2010. Our lives must be hidden in Christ, who is our life.

I have also for the first time created a fill-in the blank hand-out to go with the lesson. We'll see how that goes.

BRIT HUME NOT BACKING DOWN, which is good to see.

(Thanks to Beverly for the link.)

KUDOS TO BRIT HUME

Brit Hume said what needed to be said about Tiger Woods: become a Christian. He knew he would be opening himself up to criticism, but it's high time Christians were willing to stand by their faith.