Some days when you open your Bible, hope and forgiveness come pouring out.  The awesomeness of God's power is seen clearly on display, or a familiar story reminds you how faithfully he keeps his promises.

Some days, however, it's like going under the knife.

The process of how the biblical writings came together to form our present-day Bible might seem (to the cynical observer) fraught with manipulation and disagreement. Quite the contrary. The BC-era attempts at formalizing the contents of Scripture (our Old Testament), as well as the various councils of the early AD years that canonized the New Testament, were remarkably unanimous in their decisions. The same providence that enabled God to speak His Word to the actual writers of Scripture is also at work in its preservation as a whole.

The Bible has a reputation for being an other-worldly book. And certainly God has given it to us so that we can see beyond ourselves, beyond today-so that we believers can live with hope of a brighter age to come. But no book has more to say about how we are meant to live and conduct ourselves on this earth, covering every aspect of who we are.

Some people believe the NFL's sudden-death format for overtime play should gravitate more toward the model they use in college, giving each team at least one shot at scoring on offense. That's an opinion, not a right or wrong.

Hard to boil these down, but here is a sampling:

God as creator. The first words of Scripture, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1), are more foundational to our lives than we realize. The Bible reveals why it matters that everything-time, the universe, our relationships, our very beings-all belong to Him.

Though designed by God to speak to all people in all times and places, the Bible contains His dealings with man at specific points in history. It is a real-world book. Written by dozens of people over hundreds of years, the intention was not to create a best-seller. The Bible is primarily meant to be a reflection of God's nature and character-His revelation of Himself to mankind-not a storybook saga.

Can the Bible be trusted?

As far as the Bible goes, perhaps all you'd be willing to say is that you have a basic respect for it. You know it means a lot to some people, and you have no problem with that. You're happy for them. But for you-it just doesn't seem all that relevant to what you deal with on a daily basis. The times you've tried reading it, you can hardly understand what it says. Besides, who can claim with 100% confidence that the Bible says exactly what God said it was supposed to say?

Usually when people say they believe the Bible contains errors, I ask them to name those errors so we can look at them. They may raise easily answered questions such as "Where did Cain get his wife?" But usually they can't name many supposed errors, if any at all. They often take the word of other people that the Bible contains errors, without investigating for themselves. I have investigated for myself, and I am convinced that when God says all Scripture is "God breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16), He means that it is all accurate and reliable.

To learn more about Josh McDowell, click here.

We are all hard at work here!  As you know, the racing season is well underway.  We already had our first race, the Shootout at Daytona.  In the race, we finished fourth, fifth, and seventh.  You might say that it was a good finish for us and to be happy with that but it's amazing what goes on behind the scenes in racing. 

Can the Bible be trusted?

As far as the Bible goes, perhaps all you'd be willing to say is that you have a basic respect for it. You know it means a lot to some people, and you have no problem with that. You're happy for them. But for you-it just doesn't seem all that relevant to what you deal with on a daily basis. The times you've tried reading it, you can hardly understand what it says. Besides, who can claim with 100% confidence that the Bible says exactly what God said it was supposed to say?

First, a racing update. We're getting close to the season starting and everyone around here is getting excited! It's a short off-season, roughly two and a half months, and now Daytona is just around the corner so final preparations are being made.

Jesus told a story about three men, each presented with an allotment of money to handle in the way they thought best. Two of the men took their share, invested it wisely, and earned a 100% return. But the third man, afraid to risk any loss, buried his money in the ground. Rather than feeling free to be creative with what God had given, rather than enjoying a relationship with his master that gave him room to try and fail, he was always looking over his shoulder, motivated less by success and more by avoiding punishment. He thought of his boss as a “hard man” (Matthew 25:24), itching to crush anyone who crossed him. You never knew what might set him off.

Just when some in leadership thought the Korean War was all but over, American troops approaching the North Korean border were surprised by a blistering, middle-of-the-night ambush from the Chinese army. One of the platoons drew back into a dry creek bed, hoping to weather the assault. But realizing they had only made themselves easier targets by yielding the high ground, they began urging each other out. Better to risk death on the run than get it guaranteed in a ditch.