Tilling and Planting

Tag: Bible

  • The Infallible Word of God

    The Infallible Word of God

    Intro

    When I started this journey, I wanted to start writing about many of the basics of Christianity. Hence why I started with God and the Trinity. Another highly important topic is the infallible Word of God, the Bible. And that’s where I’m going today. I aim to demonstrate the importance of the Bible being infallible and the dangers of not believing in its infallibility.

    What is Infallibility?

    First of all, I should address the meaning of the word “infallible”. It’s not as common a word these days, so I can’t expect all my readers to know what it means. The dictionary definition of infallible is “incapable of making mistakes or being wrong.” So, when I claim that the Bible is infallible, I’m saying that the Bible has zero mistakes in it, never contradicts itself, is not outdated, and is never wrong in anything it says. That is a tall order to fill. And yet, Christians have believed this for centuries.

    Now the question is, what’s the big deal? Does it matter whether we believe in the infallibility of the Bible? The answer is yes! It absolutely matters. And I’m going to tell you why.

    Why is it Important?

    So, what is the big deal? What are the consequences if the Bible is fallible? The consequences are many. First off, our beliefs as Christians would be questionable. Understanding and knowing God becomes impossible since the Bible reveals the nature of God. The Bible being fallible calls into question God’s very existence as well. Because if the Bible is wrong on one point, then it’s probably wrong elsewhere. And the problem now becomes knowing what is and isn’t an error. It makes trusting the Bible impossible.

    As Christians, we claim to believe in an all-perfect, all-knowing, all-loving God. And we came to this knowledge through His Holy Word – the Bible. If, however, the Bible contains errors – or worse, lies – then how can we claim that God is all-perfect and all-knowing? If His revelation to mankind contains errors or lies, then that would imply that God Himself is capable of making mistakes and/or lying. That’s not a God that I want to serve. He becomes like many of the “gods” of the ancient pantheons that act more like fickle humans with superpowers rather than divine beings.

    The Bible itself claims that “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). Which means that God impressed upon the authors the words to write. So, not believing in the infallibility of the Bible also implies a non-belief in the infallibility of God Himself! And yet, many people will claim to believe in God’s perfection while denying the infallibility of the source of that claim. Do you see the paradox in that?

    What are the Dangers?

    As a Christian, what are some of the risks of not believing in the infallibility of the Bible? Four main things I see: Falling into sin, falling into false doctrine, falling away from your identity, and falling away from the faith entirely.

    Falling into Sin

    Many people in the world view the Christian lifestyle as a list of don’ts. “Don’t drink,” “Don’t steal,” “Don’t sleep around,” etc. But where did we come up with these lists of “thou shalt not”? From the Bible! The Bible lays down in a number of places various things that it calls “sinful”. And when Christians believe in the infallibility of God’s Word, it’s easier to say what is right and wrong. What is sin and what pleases God. However, those who say they are Christians and don’t believe in Biblical infallibility will have a much harder time. And each Christian who doesn’t believe in Biblical infallibility will likely have a different list of what’s right and wrong. Suddenly, things aren’t as black and white. And as a result, Christians can become trapped in a sinful lifestyle because they believe the Bible got it wrong for that particular sin.

    The truly concerning thing about this is if they feel no conviction of sin. That’s scary because one of Holy Spirit’s jobs is to convict of sin (see my previous post about Holy Spirit here). And He lives within true Christians, so if a Christian is sinning regularly and not feeling convicted…well, let’s just say it begs the question of whether or not that person is saved.

    As an aside, ignorance can play a role in not recognizing Holy Spirit’s conviction. So, if you don’t know that the Bible calls out something you’re doing as a sin, you may not recognize when Holy Spirit convicts you of that. That has happened to me and to many other Christians (it’s not that we weren’t convicted, it’s that we didn’t recognize it as conviction at first). That just brings into question how much time you spend in the Bible rather than salvation.

    Falling into False Doctrine

    False doctrine runs rampant today. Okay, it always has. Even in the first century church there was false doctrine cropping up. One of the most popular of the time came from Jewish Christians who claimed that Gentiles had to keep the Jewish Law in order to be saved – in addition to believing in Jesus. So, the Church is no stranger to dealing with false doctrine. Much of the false doctrine comes as a result of misinterpreting what the Bible says. However, the false doctrine of not believing in Biblical infallibility can lead to believing many, many more false doctrines. After all, even though the Bible may say something explicitly, if it contains errors, then it may simply be wrong about this part of Christian doctrine. People might start out saying the Bible was wrong about something minor, but before you know it, they’re denying the divinity of Jesus.

    I actually knew someone years ago who made a comment about not thinking the Bible was accurate on how many wives and concubines Solomon had. Claimed those numbers were way too high to be real. As a reminder, the Bible says he had 700 wives and 300 concubines (🤢). Sometime later, I recall him denying something far more fundamental to the Christian faith. I don’t remember exactly what, but my reaction was something like, “How can you even be a Christian and not believe that? That’s one of the core tenants of the faith.” This, my friends, is one of the biggest dangers of believing that the Bible contains errors.

    Falling Away from Your Identity

    Do you know your identity in Christ? Do you know what the Bible has to say about your identity? If not, I highly encourage you to look it up. There are so many amazing things the Bible has to say about those who believe. Unfortunately, if you don’t believe in Biblical infallibility, how many of those encouraging statements are true? The Bible calls us His children. Pretty cool, right? But is that true? Maybe, maybe not, depending on if those parts of the Bible contain errors. Are we truly a new creation because of what Christ did on the cross and His resurrection? Again, it all depends.

    I find great comfort and encouragement in what the Bible says about my identity. Every so often (and I need to do it more frequently) I pull out a sheet of paper with these identity statements written on them and the associated passages. I’ll read through them to remind myself of how God sees me and the truth of who I am in Him. This makes it harder for the devil or the lies of the world or the struggles of my past to fill my mind with the opposite. When you don’t believe what the Bible says about you, you will turn to the world for validation, for identity. And the results are sad. Everywhere I look, there are people clearly struggling with their identities, their meaning and purpose in life.

    When Christians start placing their identity in things this world says you should, they start to experience worry, anxiety, dissatisfaction, and other things that God has said we don’t have to carry anymore. In addition, it can lead to a sinful lifestyle or addiction as they try to cope with not feeling fulfilled. It breaks my heart to see it.

    Falling Away from the Faith

    Any one of the aforementioned things has the potential to lead to this last one: falling away from the faith entirely. The inability to trust the Bible at some points will more likely than not lead to denying God’s existence. It might take months, it might take years, but at some point, it’ll probably happen. After all, if the Bible is wrong about how many wives Solomon had and is wrong about Jesus’ true nature, then how can we trust the Bible when it says that God exists, and He created everything? People will try to pick and choose what they want to believe from the Bible, but almost always ends up just throwing the whole thing away. And this is logical. You either have to take it as a whole, or don’t take it at all. God didn’t intend the Bible to be chopped up like that.

    This is an all or nothing faith journey. As Revelation 3:16 says, “So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” To be spiritually apathetic is not an option in God’s Kingdom. Similarly, to be Biblically apathetic (aka treating the Bible flippantly by choosing what parts of it to believe and pay attention to) is not an option. It’s all or nothing.

    Wrapping Up

    By now I hope you see the importance of Biblical infallibility. Without it, our faith stands on shifting sand with no firm foundation. If you’ve wavered or struggled in believing this, I hope God touched you through my post. And I hope that you will find peace and confidence in the validity of your faith and being able to trust the Word of God and trust the God who breathed it into existence, just like He did you.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Hello My Name Is

    Hello My Name Is

    Intro

    If you’re a fan of Matthew West like I am, then your mind immediately started singing the rest of the chorus to his song of the same name. Yes, I’ll admit it, I got the idea from that song. But it felt appropriate to me since this is my first blog post and I need to introduce myself and what my blog is all about. And since I’m generally a man of few words, I’m just going to jump right in.

    Growing up

    Starting off, my name is Cory Lewis. If you’ve already seen my About Me page, then you got a taste of who I am. But just a taste. Here I will expand upon that.

    Home

    I grew up in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Not a small city (roughly 70,000), but not huge either. Oshkosh feels more like a small town than my current city of residence (Eau Claire, Wisconsin), even though they are roughly the same size. My parents homeschooled my 4 sisters and I through high school. Crazy, right? That’s a lot of work to homeschool 5 children. It still amazes me how my mom managed to do it. It couldn’t have been easy when someone didn’t understand something, and she had to explain it multiple ways. Or someone was in a bad mood and then had math problems to solve. Or girls getting emotional (love you all!). But we made it through, and no one regrets it.

    Church

    Church was a regular part of our lives. Sunday School, youth group, Awana, and more. During this time, I found I was good at extracting meaning and information from various Biblical topics. In high school, I attended a guy’s Bible study and was recognized as having the most solid grasp on the Bible in the group. In fact, if you could go back and read the Facebook messages between one girl from youth group and I, you’d see that most of them are answering her questions about God and the Bible.

    I clearly had a reputation in high school. And honestly, I didn’t care. I enjoyed talking about the Bible and explaining it to people. In fact, one youth leader said I “didn’t talk much, but when I did, it was worth listening to.” And I heard more than once I “had wisdom beyond my years.” I have since come to recognize it as the spiritual gift of Wisdom found in the Bible.

    Post high school

    After I graduated high school in 2013, I took a year to figure out what I wanted to do and what school I wanted to go to. I started working at Menards in Oshkosh during this time as a carryout and cashier – a couple of years later I would be promoted to Head Cashier. I ended up deciding to attend the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh and major in Computer Science with an emphasis in Software Engineering. In 2014, I started my freshman year of college.

    The University

    While going to college, I lived with my parents and commuted on the city bus to and from school. Once I started attending, I got plugged into Chi Alpha. Chi Alpha is the Assembly of God’s student ministry organization. Two of my older sisters also attended the university and encouraged me to attend Chi Alpha. I learned and grew a lot in my faith there.

    As I attended college, I continued to work at Menards. All throughout, my managers and HR Coordinator told me to apply to Corporate after graduation because they were always hiring in IT. In my senior year, I did so and less than two weeks after putting in my application, they offered me a job. For years, I didn’t want to move outside the Oshkosh area. And Menards HQ is in Eau Claire, which is three hours west of Oshkosh. After getting the offer, I prayed and felt God nudging me to accept it. So, after I graduated at the end of May 2018, I moved out here and haven’t regretted it.

    New Church

    Once out here, I quickly found an amazing church and got plugged into the young adult ministry. I later volunteered for the tech team and have been serving in that capacity since. In 2020, I agreed to join people from church in putting on a kid’s camp designed for those in foster care called Royal Family Kids. I enjoyed my time doing it; it is an exhausting week, but I can’t imagine not doing it. What God does in those kids’ lives is incredible. Stacy came down from Superior to help us with this camp since she had prior experience doing it elsewhere. It took a few years, but we started dating on August 19, 2022, and got married April 29, 2023.

    What about the blog?

    You may be wondering, “That’s great, but what’s the point of the blog?” And that’s a good question. The story starts back in September 2022. I attended a weekend of worship at a local church. While there, the pastor of the church (whom I had never met), came up to me and told me that when he saw me the word “Author” came to mind. At that time, I had no thoughts of writing anything to publish at all. Didn’t think I would be any good at it or that anyone would want to read anything I wrote – which is funny considering how universally recognized I was in youth group as a very intelligent person with a great understanding of the Bible. For the most part I dismissed it. And even forgot about it for a while.

    The Nagging

    It started coming back to me sometime later and I wondered if it could refer to something else other than book writing – like a blog. However, it wasn’t until the end of February 2024 that I felt God telling me to start a blog with the purpose of helping people understand the Truth in a deeper way – much like I had done in youth group. After going back and forth on the timing, I realized I just needed to do it.

    The first thing I needed was a name. The word “seed” came to mind, but every combination of “Seeds of Faith” or similar, didn’t feel right. Plus, the domains that fit were taken or crazy expensive. When I asked Stacy about it, she suggested Tilling and Planting. I immediately felt this was the name I needed to go with. I immediately went and bought the domain and a hosting package and started building this site. And now, a couple of weeks later, I am publishing my first blog.

    And finally, the key verse I thought of as I built this site, is found in 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV), “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

    Additional Things

    I should probably also point out my Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. They can be found at the bottom of every page along with links to my About Me and Contact Me pages.

    Wrapping up

    So, this is me in a nutshell and my blog in a nutshell. I don’t know how far this is going to go, I only know that God called me to it. And even if I have a small audience, I trust that the impact I have on that audience will have ripple effects that I may never know about.

    And that’s really all any of us are called to do. Obey God in what He says and trust that He knows what He is doing and that what we do will not be in vain: “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11).

    Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you will stick around for more. Please subscribe (it’s free!) so you don’t miss any postings. And to make you aware, I plan to post twice a month. With the power of scheduling (and because I need hard dates to make sure I don’t procrastinate!), my posts will automatically publish on the 10th and 25th of every month. I figure this schedule will not only keep me accountable but will make it easier for my readers to keep track. This may change in the future once I get in the swing of things – and depending on how many ideas I come up with.

    Speaking of ideas, I plan on my first posts being a series called The Trinity Trilogy. In this series, I will go over each of the three members of the Trinity and give a high-level overview of who they are.

    With that, I say, “Goodbye for now” and I hope and pray you will all find meaning, comfort, or confidence in what I write. God Bless you all!

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!