One answer to this question is because Christianity is falsifiable.

Consider the flurry of sensory verbs in the first two verses of 1 John 1:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us. (emphasis mine)

This kind of language is a reminder of the historical nature of our faith. At the heart of what we believe as Christians are things that happened in real time in history. The incarnation, the death, and the resurrection of Christ happened.

Here are two images from a helpful article, “Christianity, The World’s Most Falsifiable Religion,” illustrating the contrast between how Christianity started and how other religions started:

Read the whole article here.

With VBS around the corner (July 15-19), this is a good month to highlight a few of our favorite resources for children at the Book Nook.

Here are three resources we’ve grown to love at DSC, along with their publisher descriptions, each of them written by Marty Machowski and published by New Growth Press.

The Gospel Story Bible: Discovering Jesus in the Old and New Testaments

Can a Bedtime Story Actually Change Your Life?

It is easy to forget Jesus in the midst of frantic schedules, family squabbles, and conflicting priorities. But the truth is that he is the hero of every story, including these ordinary ones. This is why Marty Machowski puts God’s plan of salvation in Christ on continuous display in The Gospel Story Bible. The easy-to-read storybook introduces your family to many captivating people, places, and events from the Bible’s Old and New Testaments, showing how each one ultimately points to Jesus.

As you share these Bible stories together, you and your family will meet Jesus and learn a new, life-changing way of recognizing Christ as the hero of every story. Vibrant illustrations by A. E. Macha, child-friendly discussion questions, and Scripture references accompany each narrative to help you lead your family in exploring the Bible. You will be delighted to discover how easily even a young child can understand the original text of a story that he or she has already come to love.

Long Story Short: Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God

Christian parents know the importance of passing the gospel story on to their children, yet we live in a busy world filled with distractions. Schedules collide, there is homework and yard work and dishes and laundry, the car’s oil should be changed, there are phone calls to make and before you know it, everyone is getting to bed late again.

The Bible can seem like a long story for an active family to read, but when you break it down into short sections, as Marty Machowski does, family devotions are easy to do. Long Story Short will help busy parents share with their children how every story in the Old Testament points forward to God’s story of salvation through Jesus Christ. You won’t find a more important focus for a family devotional than a daily highlighting of the gospel of grace. Clever stories and good moral lessons may entertain and even help children, but the gospel will transform children. The gospel is deep enough to keep the oldest and wisest parents learning and growing all their lives, yet simple enough to transform the heart of the first grader who has just begun to read.

Old Story New: Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God

Filled with adventure, suspense, drama, and mystery the gospel story easily captures the attention of children. Even better, the gospel story give life. We are saved and our children are saved as we review the story of the gospel. So why do so many well-intentioned parents give up on family devotions—deciding that reading the Bible as a family must only be for “super parents.”

The truth is that there are no super parents. We all struggle, and we all need help to stay on course. Old Story New makes it easy for parents to stay on the life-giving course of sharing the gospel with their family. The second volume in Marty Machowski’s family devotional series, Old Story New continues the gospel story that started in Long Story Short. Using the same effective ten-minute a day structure, it walks children through the great truths of the Christian faith in the New Testament. Through 78 New Testament stories, Old Story New does the hard work for parents and caregivers. Simple discussion questions (and answers!) for each day’s devotion help children understand and remember Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and the birth of the Christian church. Old Story New is a family devotional program designed to explain God’s plan of salvation through the New Testament and is suitable for children from preschool through high school.

Each of these books is available at the Book Nook on Sunday morning or through Amazon at the links above.

And don’t forget that VBS is just around the corder, from July 15-19. VBS will involve around 150 volunteers and minister the gospel to several hundred children from our church and, we pray, around the neighborhood. To learn more, or to register your child, click here.

At last night’s Lord’s Supper service, we looked at a familiar story from Genesis 11:1-9, in the sermon, “The Tower of Babel and the Triumph of Christ.”

Here’s an interesting insight from John Piper on God’s restraining grace in the division of language:

God’s division of the world into different languages hinders the rise of a global, monolithic anti-Christian state that would have the power to simply wipe out all Christians. We often think that the diversity of languages and cultures and peoples and political states is a hindrance to world evangelization—the spread of Christ’s glory. That’s not the way God sees it. God is more concerned about the dangers of human uniformity than he is about human diversity. We humans are far too evil to be allowed to unite in one language or one government. The gospel of the glory of Christ spreads better and flourishes more becauseof 6,500 languages, not just in spite of it.

“Christian Adoption: Disavowals and Affirmations,” John Piper

Evangelical adoption been the subject in the news of late. Here are some important commitments that Christian adoption advocates should embrace and relate.

“9 Things You Should Know About the Bible,” by Joe Carter

For as much as we hold, hear, and read this book, here are some good things to know about the Bible.

“What to Expect When No One’s Expecting,” Kevin DeYoung

Kevin DeYoung shares some thoughts on an important book outlining some of what we can expect in the years ahead, given current reproductive rates among Americans and westerners in general.

“Matt and Lauren Chandler on Stability amid Difficulty,” The Gospel Coalition

A faithful pastor and his wife share about growth through the trial.

“FactChecker: Does College Cause Young Adults to Lose Their Faith?,” Glenn Stanton

 Here’s a reason for encouragement.

“Papa, Don’t Text: The Perils of Distracted Parenting,” The Atlantic

One of God’s gifts to children is parents who will talk not only to but with them from a very young age. Here’s an analysis of how new technologies may complicate the normal and important process of learning for children.

“The Sufficiency of Scripture,” Carl Trueman

The always helpful and always clear, Carl Trueman, helps us think through an important doctrine.

“Mission Accomplished! – Barreras Enjoying Their Renovated Home,” DSC Missions Blog

Here’s a post from the DSC Missions Blog on the arrival of the beloved Barreras to their home in Wyoming, recently renovated by a group from DSC.

This past Sunday was Father’s Day. In the providence of God, we also happened to land on one of the New Testament’s most direct and dense verses concerning the role of husbands, 1 Peter 3:7: “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

There’s no throw away line in the Bible, and each part of that verse is worth chewing on, and not just for husbands but for all of us. For help in doing so, here’s the video from Sunday’s message, “Help for Husbands“:

[RSS and email readers, click here to view this video]

In the spirit of the week after Father’s Day, here are a few links for the men:

• On Being Masculine: Read, The Masculine Mandate: God’s Calling to Men, by Rick Phillips. Two other great reads include, A Guide to Biblical Manhood, by Randy Stinson and Dan Dumas, and Disciplines of a Godly Man, by Kent Hughes. These books are available at the Book Nook.
• On Roughhousing with Your Kids: If you have young children and need some good reasons to take your evening wrestling up a few notches, check out this post, and this video.
• On Reading: Check out the post, “How to Read a Book,” for a summary of helpful principles found in Mortimer Adler’s classic, How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading. Men should be men of ideas, and books are full of ideas.
• On Ladies: In his Saturday Seminar, “Modesty,” Ryan Kelly spent three hours talking about the subject of modesty. Christian men should think about women in honorable ways and encourage women toward godliness, which includes modesty.