A Bible Knowledge Quiz

BibleGatewayThis is from Pastor Kevin DeYoung (you can read the original post by clicking here). I thought it was an eye-opening test.

A.  Who did the following?
1.   Wrote the book of Acts?
2.   Appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration?
3.   Directed the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem?
4.   Killed a thousand Philistines with a donkey’s jawbone?
5.   Led the Israelites into the promised land?
6.   Was exiled to the island of Patmos where he wrote Revelation?
7.   Was going to curse Israel, but had to bless them?
8.   Became the first King of the 10 tribes that broke away?
9.   Rescued David from her foolish husband Nabal?
10.   Was rebuked by Paul for refusing to eat with Gentiles?

B.  Where geographically did the following events take place?
11.   God gave Moses the Ten Commandments?
12.   A silversmith caused a riot?
13.   Elijah had a confrontation with the prophets of Baal?
14.   Believers were first called “Christians”?
15.   The river Jesus was baptized in?
16.   The walls of the city collapsed after the Israelites marched around it?
17.   Jesus walked on water?
18.   The place where Jonah was supposed to be going when he fled to Tarshish?
19.   The place where Paul was heading when he was blinded on the road?
20.   The river Ezekiel was at with the exiles when he received a vision from God?

C.  In which book of the Bible do you find the following?
21.   Peter visits Cornelius where he learns that God accepts Jews and Gentiles?
22.   Paul asks a runaway slave to be welcomed back?
23.   Israel worships a golden calf made by Aaron?
24.   The story of Joseph and he brothers?
25.   Twelve men explore the land of Canaan, but only two trust God to give it to them?
26.   God’s judgment on Israel is pictured by a prophet as horde of locusts?
27.   A description of the armor of God
28.   The words “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” in the Old Testament?
29.   A prophet marries a prostitute?
30.   The Magi visiting the Christ child?

D.  In which book and chapter(s) do you find the following?
31.   God first speaks the Ten Commandments?
32.   The call of Abram?
33.   The Sermon on the Mount?
34.   The Great Commission?
35.   The Holy Spirit coming upon the disciples in wind, fire, and tongues?
36.   Just as Adam was the head of the old humanity, Christ is the head of the new: “Just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous”?
37.   ”But these three remain: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love”?
38.   A religious leader hears “Unless a man is born again he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven”?
39.   Satan bound for a thousand years?
40.   The three Hebrews saved from the fiery furnace?

E.  Give the main topic or event of the following Bible chapters
41.   Genesis 3
42.   Isaiah 53
43.   Romans 4
44.   Psalm 119
45.   Hebrews 11
46.   Acts 15
47.   John 17
48.   Revelation 21-22
49.   Luke 15
50.   Exodus 3

F.  Who said the following?
51.   If I perish, I perish.
52.   What is truth?
53.   After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?…Will I really have a child, now that I am old?
54.   O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
55.   Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in the kingdom.
56.   The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?
57.   He must increase; I must decrease.
58.   Am I dog that you come at me with sticks?
59.   I know my Redeemer lives and that in the end he will stand upon the earth?
60.   Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.

G.  If you encountered the following error, to which book would you turn for help? Choose the book that best addresses the error. Use each of the listed books only once: Genesis, Job, Song of Songs, Amos, John, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, 1 Timothy, James, Revelation.
61.   ”As long as you believe the right things, it doesn’t matter how you live your life.”
62.   ”I’m sure I don’t have any spiritual gifts. Only special people do.”
63.   ”We are saved by Jesus, but we also have to do our part by obeying the law of the Old Testament.”
64.   ”If you are sick, you must have sin in your life. Good people don’t suffer.”
65.   ”God doesn’t care about the poor and oppressed. That’s the social gospel.”
66.   ”I know God promises to bless me, but I can’t really trust him through the hard things in life, like famine, barrenness, and imprisonment.”
67.   ”In the end it won’t make any difference who we followed or what we did with our lives. Jesus will treat everybody the same when he comes back.”
68.   ”There’s nothing special about Jesus. He’s just one way among many, just another prophet or good moral teacher.”
69.   ”The best way to pick your elders is by looking at how successful they are in the business world. Next, consider how many degrees they have. After that, popularity matters most. Finally, if you still can’t decide, go by good looks.”
70.   ”The Bible doesn’t say anything about intimacy between a man and a woman. That’s too fleshly for God to care about.”

H.  Arrange the following events in proper chronological order.
71-80.
a.   The giving of the Law
b.   The atoning death of Christ
c.   Malachi prophesies
d.   The promise to Abraham
e.   creation and fall
f.   Pentecost
g.   Exile in Babylon
h.   David is King over Israel
i.   Paul is shipwrecked
j.   The Judges rule over Israel

I.  Match the verse with the doctrine it best supports. Each doctrine from the list will be used only once: providence, atonement, election, justification, immutability, sanctification, inspiration, deity of Christ, Trinity, total depravity
81.   Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. 1 Peter 1:15
82.   God demonstrated his love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
83.   What you meant for evil, God meant for good. Genesis 50:20
84.   He chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4
85.   I the Lord do not change. Malachi 3:6
86.   Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not count against him. Romans 4:8
87.   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1.
88.   Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19
89.   For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21
90.   There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. Romans 3:10-11

J.  In which Old Testament book would you find the following Messianic prophecies? Books may be used more than once.
91.   The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
92.   He would crush the head of the serpent.
93.   He would come riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
94.   Born of a virgin.
95.   Came to preach good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for the captives, release the prisoners from darkness, proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and comfort all who mourn.
96.   Would be a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
97.   Would be like a sun of righteousness rising with healing in its wings.
98.   ”They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”
99.   Buried with the rich in his death.
100.   Like a lion’s cub of the tribe of Judah.

How did you do?

Thursdays With Oswald—Transforming Circumstances

ChambersThis is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

Transforming Circumstances

     We are not responsible for the circumstances we are in, but we are responsible for the way we allow those circumstances to affect us; we can either allow them to get on top of us, or we can allow them to transform us into what God wants us to be. 

From Conformed To His Image

God will use whatever means necessary to fashion us into the man or woman He created us to be. We must not fight against these circumstances, but view them through the lens of God’s Word.

  • God created you in advance to do amazing things that would bring Him glory (Ephesians 2:10).
  • God loves you enough to discipline you if you are going astray from His purpose and design (Hebrews 12:5-11).
  • God will give you strength to withstand every circumstance (2 Corinthians 12:9).
  • God will redeem every circumstance to bring forth something good (Romans 8:28-39).

Links & Quotes

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Some good reading from today…

“I regret that more and more Christian believers are being drawn into a hazy, fuzzy kind of teaching that assures everyone who has ever ‘accepted Christ’ that he or she has nothing more to be concerned about. He is OK and he will always be OK because Christ will be returning before things get too tough. Then all of us will wear our crowns, and God will see that we have cities to rule over! If that concept is accurate, why did our Lord take the stern and unpopular position that Christian believers should be engaged in watching and praying?” —A.W. Tozer

Meriam Ibrahim has been sentenced to death in Sudan for the crime of (gasp!) being a Christian. Please read her story AND sign the petition.

[VIDEO] John Maxwell has a great reminder for us: “Nobody helps anybody when they can’t help themselves because they’re burned out.” Watch this 1-minute video.

A good reminder I heard from John Stonestreet: “The Gospel is an invitation not an ultimatum.

[VIDEO] A cool behind-the-scenes look at how ESPN is revamping their Sports Center studio.

“Adversity reveals genius and prosperity conceals it.” —Roger Staubach

12 Quotes From “Create”

CreateCreate by Stephen Altrogge is a quick motivating read to help you: (1) realize that God created you to be creative, (2) remove the excuses for not exercising your creativity, and (3) encourage you to get something started! You can read my full book review by clicking here. Below are some quotes I highlighted in Create.

“Everyone was created to create. It’s hardwired into us by our Maker. … We are created in the image of God we all have an irresistible impulse to create and to establish order. When a painter brings forth beauty from the chaos of his paint palette, he is reflecting the image of God. When an accountant massages an unruly mass of data into an intelligent sales report, she is reflecting the image of God. When a writer assembles letters into words and words into sentences and sentences into paragraphs and paragraphs into pages and pages into a book, he is reflecting the image of God. When a wife tastefully decorates her house with paint colors and throw pillows, she is reflecting the image of God. When a chef mixes flower and sugar and eggs to create a cake, she is reflecting the image of God.”

“If we’re constantly dependent on the approval of other people we’ll always be afraid of failure. If we’re constantly needing the affirmation and praise of those around us then we’ll never take any creative risks. … Our identity is not rooted in what we create it’s rooted in Christ. Our identity is wrapped up in the One who created us, not the things that we create. Our acceptance doesn’t come from our friends or coworkers or fellow artists, it comes from Christ.”

“Be at peace with being lousy for a while. Chesterton once said that anything worth doing was worth doing badly. He was right. Only an insufferable egoist expects to be brilliant first time out.” —Douglas Wilson

“Trying to be perfect all the time takes the fun out of creativity.”

“When you start a creative project don’t look at the end, look at the next step in front of you.”

“A journey of a thousand miles is begun with a step.  Beware of despising small beginnings.  Some men never arrive at usefulness because they are not satisfied to begin in a small way, and proceed by a step at a time.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Most creative works are the result of faithful effort, not massive creative outbursts.”

“I believe in plodding. Productivity is more a matter of diligent, long-distance hiking than it is one-hundred-yard dashing. Doing a little bit now is far better than hoping to do a lot on the morrow. So redeem the fifteen minute spaces.” —Douglas Wilson

“Being a successful creator requires making a habit out of creativity. The most consistently creative people are the ones who have made creativity a habit. They sit down at their desk every single day and do the work. They may not work for long periods of time, but they do work consistently. They don’t wait for the creative muse to descend upon them. They sit down, grab the muse by the ear, and start putting words on paper or numbers in a spreadsheet or paint on a canvas. The muse does not descend upon those who wait. The creative muse descends upon those who grab hold of it, put it in a headlock, and force it into submission.” 

“If our creative work truly is for the honor of God, we should be willing to see it through to the end. … If we give up easily on a project that we believe will honor the Lord, we’re not being faithful. We’re being lazy, and we’re actually being selfish. We’re not allowing others to benefit from the creative gifts that God has given us.”

“If we’re truly seeking to glorify God through creativity, then we should be open to all manner of advice, suggestions, and even criticisms. God created us to be dependent on other people, and this is true in the creative field as well. … If we don’t pursue feedback there’s a pretty good chance that our creative work isn’t going to be very good.” 

“Psalm 24:1 says, ‘The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein….’ God created the world. Everything in the world belongs to Him and everything in the world is infused with His creativity. The world is literally busting at the seams with the creativity of God. There are ideas lurking around every corner! Creativity is everywhere. We just need to be on the lookout for it.”

Are You Listening?

Are you listening?David subdued Israel’s enemies. His son, Solomon, brought Israel incredible wealth and prestige. And his son, Rehoboam, brought it all crashing down.

How? “…the king did not listen to the people” when they asked him for relief (2 Chronicles 10:15).

It’s hard to lead people you don’t listen to! In fact, not only did Rehoboam not lead them, he destroyed a strong, rich, peaceful, united kingdom.

Actually Rehoboam’s problem goes back even earlier. He couldn’t hear his people because he didn’t hear his God—“He did evil BECAUSE he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord” (2 Chronicles 12:14, emphasis added).

If I set my heart fully on God, I can hear His voice.

If I can hear His voice, I can accurately hear others’ voices.

If I can accurately hear other people, I can serve them (see 1 Kings 12:7).

This is the only way to have God-enabled success with people!


Links & Quotes

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Pay attention, guys: 3 Ways A Man Should Lead His Home. I love this quote from this post: “A husband and father can’t impart what he doesn’t possess. So the best strategy for the everyday preacher is to first preach the gospel to himself. Then, through his own repentance, he is able to lead his family to the very place where he himself has been.” —Dave Bruskas

This is a fun quiz: 100 Bible Knowledge Questions from Kevin DeYoung.

A brand new book from John Piper which he calls “the one most different from all the others.” Read more about Seeing Beauty And Saying Beautifully, and download a free PDF version.

A beautiful reminder from Chilly Chilton that God wants to bless us: The Search.

Create (book review)

Create“I believe that God has given every single person creative gifts. … This book is intended to help you use those gifts. It’s intended to help you stop making excuses and start making stuff for the glory of God.” That’s how Stephen Altrogge begins his book Create.

This is not a book for budding artists, nor struggling authors, nor promising young musicians. It is a book for all of those folks and for everyone who wants to unlock the creative potential the Creator has implanted in them.

Stephen writes about what he’s learned about creativity, and bolsters each of his points with personal examples, biblical references, and quotes from others who have tapped into their creative potential. Along the way Stephen gives us encouragement to be creative and demolishes all of the excuses we typically use to try to convince ourselves that we’re not creative.

This is a short but very informative and liberating book. Get it today!

Faith’s Checkbook (book review)

Faith's CheckbookWhen you pull out your checkbook, it’s nice to have money in the account so your check will be honored. The same concept holds true for your “spiritual bank account.” Charles Spurgeon has a collection of daily biblical promises called Faith’s Checkbook which will help you realize how fully-funded God has made your spiritual account.

Each day the Spurgeon, called the Prince of Preachers, highlights a promise in God’s Word and unpacks all the riches that promise delivers. Each thought only takes a page, but Spurgeon gives you enough “cash” to provide for you for that day.

What a fantastic year-long journey of faith-building I had with Faith’s Checkbook!

Links & Quotes

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Some things I was reading today:

“They who find the Word sweet feed on it often, savor it continuously, share it eagerly, and grow from it consistently.” —T.M. Moore

I love this reminder about the value of corporate worship: Kindle The Fire In Corporate Worship.

“No man is a good preacher who is not willing to lay his future on the line every time he expounds the Word. He must let his job and his reputation ride on each and every sermon or he has no right to think that he stands in the prophetic tradition.” —A.W. Tozer

Abortion providers are scary! 15-Year-Old Girl Held Against Her Will In Abortion Clinic.

“I hope you will find the Lord present at all times, and in all places. When it is so, we are at home everywhere; when it is otherwise, home is a prison, and abroad a wilderness.” —John Newton, in a letter to a friend

My Detroit Tigers are rolling! Should we be worried?

[VIDEO] Ken Davis asks, “Remember when you could remember?”

Max Lucado has a good reminder about humility in Who Did The Work?

Money & Hammers

Money checklistHammers are very similar to money. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at some of the things they have in common. They both…

  1. …are tools.
  2. …can be used to build up or destroy.
  3. …are amoral.
  4. …don’t have any power until they’re in a person’s hand.

I realize in church circles it can make people uncomfortable to talk about money, but it shouldn’t be that way. The Bible is very clear in saying wealth comes from God, as well as how to use that wealth, so why should that be uncomfortable? Here are some of the things the Bible says about wealth:

  • If we honor God, He blesses our work (Proverbs 3:9-10).
  • If we take the glory for our success, God calls us “foolish” (Luke 12:16-21).
  • Money can be used to build God’s kingdom (Acts 4:34-37) or to build our own reputations (Acts 5:1-11).
  • Making the pursuit of money our priority becomes an idol (Luke 16:10-13).
  • The anxiety over money can choke our spiritual life (Matthew 13:22).
  • God gives us the ability to work, to make money, and to enjoy both the work and the rewards of work (Ecclesiastes 5:19).
  • God alone judges our attitude toward money (Luke 16:15).

It’s not money that is immoral, but our pursuit of Money (with a capital “M” or what the Bible calls Mammon) that is immoral.

It’s not money that will ruin us, but our trust in money that will ruin us.

It’s not money that gives us a secure future, but God Who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17).

Don’t envy people with more money than you. Don’t look down on people with less money than you. Don’t—as Jesus said to the Pharisees—justify your opinions and attitudes about money.

Only an honest listening to the Holy Spirit about your attitude and lifestyle concerning money is what can keep us from letting money rob us of God’s blessing.