Study the Bible … the Right Way

“The Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day.” – Acts 17:11

Imagine for a moment a church that teaches that God is the Easter Bunny, Jesus was a Viking pirate and Jerusalem was built by extraterrestrials. How would you know whether or not these teachings were true? Perhaps you’ve believed in error all these years.

 Well, keep this in mind: Bad things happen when two things go wrong in a church: 1) when Christian pastors and teachers aren’t faithfully teaching their congregations the word of God, and 2) when Christians aren’t studying the Scriptures to make sure what they’re being taught is in line with God’s Word.

So, Paul and Silas must have been impressed when their missionary travels took them from Thessalonica to Berea. On the Sabbath day after they arrived, Paul entered the Jewish synagogue and started telling people about Jesus. And in verse 11, Luke gives us a wonderful summary of Paul’s ministry in Berea: “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

The Bereans are held up in this chapter as role models for you and me for three reasons. #1: The Bereans “were of more noble character than the Thessalonians.” The original Greek word translated as “noble” in the NIV Bible is “eugenes,” which also translates as “more open-minded” (NLT), “more willing to listen” (NCV), and “more receptive” (NRSV). In other words, the Bereans received Paul’s teaching with open ears. They weren’t “know-it-alls.” #2: The Bereans listened to the message with “great eagerness.” They were enthusiastic Bible students. And #3: The Bereans examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

The Bereans received Paul’s teaching enthusiastically, with open ears and an open mind—but they didn’t take what he said at face value. They did their homework. They searched and examined and studied the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said stood the test of God’s word. Then, and ONLY then, did they believe his teaching, hide it in their hearts and walk in obedience to it. I hope and pray that millions of Americans would do the same thing these Bereans did.

When it comes to correctly handling the word of truth, the stakes are too high for us to slack off. God is calling you to be a Berean. Here are five practical steps to help you do just that:

Step #1: Be an eager, enthusiastic student of God’s Word. Come to church on time with an open mind and heart.

Step #2: Listen carefully to the message being taught, with an open Bible in hand. Pastor Kevin DeYoung says, “You do not want to be at a church where you can listen to sermon after sermon and it doesn’t even matter if your Bible is open. You want to be at a church where the preaching is pulling you into the text—to see it, to listen to it, to find connections with it.”

Step #3: Take notes and write down questions so you can test what is taught with Scripture. Let’s be honest with each other: Most American Christians believed they have fulfilled their duty if they have gone to church and politely listened to the sermon. That’s not enough. The New Testament tells us to “Correctly handle the Word of Truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) and “Be doers of the Word and not hearers only” (James 1:22).

Step #4: Spend quality time in God’s word EVERY DAY. You will never become a Berean if you just study the Bible once a week. Read at least one chapter every day and spend some time thinking about it, asking questions, searching for the answers to your questions, and praying over it.

Step #5: Give the Bible the final say in all matters of life and doctrine. Please don’t let me, or ANY pastor or teacher, boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, professor or boss, have the final word on matters of life and doctrine. GOD must have the final say. And God’s final say is detailed in the pages of Scripture.

Chuck Swindoll says it really well: “No matter how gifted or charismatic or well-trained and experienced your Bible teacher or pastor may be, form the healthy habit of checking what is being said against the Scriptures.” If you truly want to become “of more noble character” like the Bereans, let God and His Holy Word have the final say.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person at 9 a.m., or online at 10 a.m. on YouTube or Facebook Live. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

The Man Who Loved His Neighbor

“And who is my neighbor?” – Luke 10:29

Back in the 1950s and ’60s, there was a popular comic strip called Pogo. Even though Pogo was an opossum, he offered some wonderful insights about life. In one strip, Pogo was sitting beside a swamp fishing. Before long, a duck swam to the shore, waddled up and sat down beside him. The duck asked, “Has you see’d my cousin? He’s migrating north by kiddy car.” Pogo responded, “By kiddy car? Why don’t he fly?” The duck said, “Oh, he’s afraid of flying. He’s afraid he’s gonna fall.” A bit perplexed, Pogo asked, “Then why don’t he swim?” The duck responded, “Oh, he never swims. When he swims he gets seasick.” In complete frustration, Pogo looked at the duck and says, “When your cousin decided to be a duck, he entered the wrong business!”

I’m curious. If Pogo looked at the life of the average Christian, what would he see, and what would he say? Would he see Christians who refuse to do the basic things that Jesus has called every Christian to do? I’m afraid he might say, “When you decided to be a Christian, you entered the wrong business!” Theologian Haddon Robinson summarized Pogo’s insights this way: “Blessed is the duck who, when he decides to be a duck, does what ducks are supposed to do!” We could say much the same thing about Christians: Blessed is the follower of Christ, who when he decides to be a follower of Christ, does what followers of Christ are supposed to do.

In Luke 10, Jesus gave one of his most memorable illustrations of what followers of Christ are supposed to do in the famous Parable of the Good Samaritan. An “expert” in the law had asked Jesus to interpret the Old Testament law, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). In Luke 10: 29, the man asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Evidently this legal eagle thought Jesus would say that his neighbor was the guy next door in his upper-middle-class neighborhood, or his fellow Jewish leader at the temple. Never in a million years would he have imagined that Jesus would single out a half-dead mugging victim as his neighbor.

You probably know the story well. A certain man was traveling alone on a dangerous road. Some robbers pounced on him, beat him up, stole his clothes and belongings, and left him for dead at the side of the road. Afterward two separate men, a priest and a Levite, came down the road and saw him lying there. But instead of helping him, each man scooted to the other side of the road and kept walking. After all, according to Jewish law, they would be deemed ceremonially unclean for a full week if they touched a man who ended up dying. Obviously, both of these religious leaders valued ceremonial cleanliness more the fate of a dying stranger. But when a lowly Samaritan came by, he had compassion on the injured man—and his actions proved it. He knelt beside the man and treated his wounds. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to the nearest inn and paid the innkeeper to take care of him for as long as needed.

After telling the story, Jesus turned to the Jewish legal expert and asked him the simple question: “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The man responded, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus, in a nutshell, told him, “That’s what God means when he tells you to love your neighbor. Go and do the same thing that the Samaritan did.”

A marvelous insight can be gleaned from this parable. In the words of Chuck Swindoll: “What you ARE determines what you SEE, and what you SEE determines what you DO.” In the parable, all three men saw the half-dead man on the side of the road. But why didn’t the first two men do anything to help him? Because what we do is determined by what we see. And when they saw the man on the side of the road, they saw an inconvenience, a waste of their precious time, a blemish on their ceremonial purity.

And why did they see the man that way? Because of what they were. They were religious snobs. Their religion was all head and no heart. When their religion really could make a difference in someone’s life, they took a pass. The priest and Levite didn’t DO the right thing, because they didn’t SEE the hurting man through the eyes of Jesus. And they didn’t SEE the hurting man through the eyes of Jesus because they were not followers of Jesus. What you are determines what you see, and what you see determines what you do.

So, let me ask you: What are you? Are you a new creation in Christ? If so, you will see people as Jesus sees them. You will see them as his favorite creation, in need of his love—no matter who they are, no matter what they look like, no matter how undeserving they might seem. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ you will see every man, woman and child as your neighbor, someone who is fair game for Christ’s mercy and compassion and love to be extended through you. Like the Good Samaritan, you and I must see people the way Jesus sees people, because of what we are: faithful followers of Jesus Christ.

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville and the author of "Holy Huldah: Lessons You Should Never Forget from Bible Characters You've Never Heard Of." For more information, visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com, and join us for our Worship Celebration Sundays at 10 a.m.

Know What’s Needed

“You are worried and upset about many things. But only one thing is needed.”

– Luke 10:41-42

One afternoon a man looked out the sliding glass door of his patio and saw his dog trotting across the patio with something in his mouth. When the man went outside to investigate, he saw that Fido had a dead rabbit in his mouth. After the man said “Drop it!” about ten times, the dog finally let go. And when the man got a closer look, his heart sank. He recognized the beloved pet bunny that belonged to the little girl next door.

Well, the man felt he had to do something. He couldn’t bear for the little girl to find out that his dog had chomped her bunny to death. So, the man brought the rabbit inside, took it to the sink and carefully rinsed off all the dirt and dog slobber. Then he pulled out the hair dryer—or should that be “hare dryer”?—and got him all dried off. Finally, he climbed the fence into his neighbor’s backyard, put the dead rabbit back into its hutch and fluffed up the bunny’s fur one more time before closing the cage. 

Later that evening the man heard the little girl screaming in her backyard. He went next door and asked if everything was all right. The girl’s father told him, “Not really! You remember Cassie’s pet bunny? Well, he died a couple of days ago, and we buried him. But some SICKO came into our backyard while we were gone, dug it up and stuck it back inside the rabbit hutch!”

Have you ever done something kind for someone and afterward realized that it wasn’t at all what that person needed? I have, and I bet you have as well—just like Martha in Luke chapter 10.

In the final five verses of this chapter, Jesus and his disciples came to the home of Mary and Martha. Jesus had been doing full-time ministry for around three years, so he was probably tired—physically, emotionally, perhaps even spiritually. Jesus needed some R&R before moving ahead into Jerusalem. As best we can tell, the group popped in unannounced. So, imagine what you might do if 13 men suddenly showed up at your front door and asked if they could spend the day in your home. The Bible tells us, “Mary sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was busy with all the things that had to be done” (Luke 10:39-40). Would you respond more like Martha, who probably burst into a frenzy of cleaning and meal preparation? Or would you respond more like Mary—ignoring the state of the house, but anxious to hear everything that Jesus had to say?

If your reaction would be more like Martha’s, you probably have a task-oriented personality. You are a worker bee with an eye for detail. You don’t just do things; you are determined to do things right. If your reaction would be more like Mary’s, you probably have a people-oriented personality. You work, but when guests come over, you think it’s more important to sit down and spend time with them, rather than serving them. If you’re people-oriented, there’s a good chance that when your guests get hungry, they’ll have to go into the kitchen and fend for themselves. Either that or you’ll make a quick call to Domino’s and have dinner delivered.

Martha loved Jesus. And because she loved him, she ran around frantically trying to clean the house and make him a four-course meal. Her intentions were good. But her priorities were messed up. Jesus didn’t NEED a four-course meal. As Jesus said to Martha in vs. 41-42, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.”

Jesus wasn’t scolding Martha. He wasn’t criticizing Martha. He was lovingly pointing out to her that she was running herself ragged meeting a need that he didn’t even have. Jesus was basically saying, “Sweet Martha, I don’t need a spotless house. Martha, I don’t need a four-course meal. What I most need is just to recharge my batteries and spend some quality time with you and your sister.” If you want to meet someone’s need, first find out what his or her need IS. Although it’s hard to do, we need to push aside our own ideas of how to show kindness to people and take the time to find out what their real needs are. And that determines what shape our kindness will take.

Also, consider these words from Warren Wiersbe, “What we do WITH Christ is far more important than what we do FOR Christ. Few things are as damaging to the Christian life as trying to work for Christ without taking time to commune with Christ.” Often, what is good is the enemy of what is best. Cleaning the house for Jesus was a good thing. Preparing a nice four-course meal for Jesus was a good thing. But Jesus made it very clear to Martha in that spending quality time with him was the best thing.

So, you and I need to ask ourselves an important question: Am I spending so much time doing good things for Jesus that I am neglecting the most important thing: to spend quality time with Jesus?

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church of Victorville and the author of "Holy Huldah! Lessons You Should Never Forget From Bible Characters You've Never Heard Of." Visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com, and join us for our Worship Celebration Sundays at 10 a.m.

Are You Disappointed in Jesus?

“Go to Jesus and ask him, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we

expect someone else?’” – John 7:19

In July 1999, I began serving as the pastor at First Christian Church of Victorville. And my faith was really tested early on. About four months after I came on staff, our church secretary, Dorothy Love, was hospitalized with major medical issues. By December it didn’t look like she was going to make it. I remember walking into my bedroom in the apartment where my wife and I lived at the time. I knelt beside my bed and begged God to heal Dorothy. I prayed. I cried. I did everything I could think of to do to make sure that God heard and answered that prayer. And guess what happened? Within twenty-four hours, Dorothy breathed her last, and she was gone.

I’ve got to tell you, I really felt let down by God. He had the power to heal Dorothy, and He didn’t do it. He said He would answer the prayer of faith lifted up by one of His followers, but He didn’t do it. I was disappointed with God. Have you ever been there? I’m sure you have. But you and I are not alone. In Luke chapter 7, John the Baptist—the man who hailed Jesus as the Savior—went through a dark night of doubt while he was being held in prison.

John had been imprisoned for speaking out against King Herod’s warped marriage to his brother’s former wife, who also happened to be Herod’s niece. Put yourself in John the Baptist’s shoes: an innocent man, sitting in a dirty, smelly jail cell for months. You’ve gone over in your mind the events that led to your arrest, and you’ve concluded that you did nothing to deserve the punishment you’re experiencing. You simply did what God put you on this earth to do: to plead with people to wake up and point them to Jesus Christ.

In Luke 7:18, some of John’s followers visited him in prison and gave him a full report on Jesus’ teaching and miraculous healings. You would think that John would have been blown away. But he didn’t seem blown away at all. In fact, he seemed a bit confused—even disappointed. In response, John sent two of his disciples on an errand: “Go to Jesus and ask him, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?’” (vs. 19).

Baffling! Think about it: Yet John was the man who had pointed to Jesus and proclaimed, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” It was John who baptized Jesus and saw the Holy Spirit descend on him in the form of a dove. And it was John who heard the voice from God the Father that said, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” But as he sat in that prison cell, John had doubts.

But when John’s followers delivered his message to Jesus, notice that Jesus DIDN’T shake his fist and say, “That no-good locust eater! How dare he question me!” Jesus didn’t condemn John’s doubt. He embraced it. Jesus didn’t complain about John’s disappointment with him. Instead, he responded with compassion. Jesus kept preaching the good news and healing the sick in view of John’s disciples. Then Jesus told them: “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me” (vs. 22-23).

John’s disciples returned to John and relayed Jesus’ message to them. And as best as we can tell, John’s faith in Jesus was restored, and he served him faithfully until his dying day.

As we follow Christ, we all deal with some doubt and disappointment. I know in my heart that Jesus is good, but at times it doesn’t feel like He’s good to ME. I know in my heart that Jesus’ plans are better than my plans and his timing is better than my timing, but at the same time … it feels like Jesus has let me down. With that in mind, here are three important lessons on doubt and disappointment:

1: If you are a true follower of Christ, doubt may temporarily disturb your relationship with Jesus, but it won’t destroy it. It’s okay to have some doubts about God’s plan and His goodness in your life. It’s okay to feel at times like he’s let you down. And truth be told: When we go through a period of doubt and disappointment, it can actually make our faith in God even stronger. Chuck Swindoll makes this great point: “Some doubting is healthy. Doubt can force us to pursue the truth rather than just being gullible and believing whatever we are told…. Doubts fuel the believer’s pursuit of real answers to life’s most troubling questions.”

2: When you are doubting Jesus and feel like he has let you down, take your doubt and disappointment to Him. He’s a big God. He can handle it. John the Baptist had overwhelming evidence that Jesus was the promised Christ. But when John was down in the dumps, he had doubts and disappointment anyway. And when John brought his doubt and disappointment to him, Jesus was perfectly fine with it. In fact, he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. The same goes for you.

3: Special blessings await those who endure earthly disappointments and inequalities believing there are heavenly rewards. John’s imprisonment never seemed fair to him, because it wasn’t fair. His imprisonment never seemed just, because it wasn’t just. But John the Baptist endured, knowing that God would reward him in heaven. And that’s exactly what God did …and He will do the same for you. 

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information,

visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com  and join us for church Sundays at 10 a.m.