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Bible Reading:

Most important thing when choosing a Bible: pick the one you'll read. It doesn't matter if you prefer it because of how the cover makes you feel, if that will make you read it, then that's fine.

Most issues with translations only kick in when you find passages that are hard to understand and you want a sense of what the original writer was saying. Then something like the NLT may be less useful, because it paraphrases more. The one thing I'd say is that I wouldn't recommend a full paraphrase version like The Message, because it has a lot of the writer's own interpretation. It has its value, but not for regular study.

If you want an easy to access but still good for Bible study translation, then the NIV is a widely used version. With your background in mind, howevr, the ESV might be usable for you. It's a widely respected translation that is considered good for serious study because it gets closer to the original language than the NIV, with some sacrifice for ease of reading. It's not something I'd necessarily recommend for someone new to Christianity, but given that you grew up in a Christian family, you might not find the vocabulary as daunting.

Regarding annotations: feel free to skip them. They are intended to aid understanding, but are not part of God's word. Therefore they are not essential reading, although if you want help understanding a passage they may be useful. If you find the length of the Bible challenging, you may want to consider a Bible reading plan - it will give you a structured approach that just makes it all feel a bit more manageable. If you want to manage the whole thing in a year (4 chapters a day), then try For The Love of God by Don Carson. If that's too much you could give one of these a try. One popular approach is to just alternate reading Old Testament and New Testament books (e.g. read through Matthew, then Genesis, then Mark, then Exodus etc), and then, because the New Testament is shorter, starting over while you go through the 2nd half of the Old Testament. That one's good because it doesn't matter how much you read each day to fit the plan. But reading plans are just a tool, if you want to just sit and read, that's also great, reading whole books in one go has its benefits even. Whatever works for you.

Other resources:

There are many, many Christian books available. But if you want a couple of easy recommendations try:

• The Cross-Centered Life by CJ Mahaney, it's super short but nails the essentials of the Christian life. Likewise Humility: True Greatness by the same author, also short.
  
  
• Mere Christianity by CS Lewis - it's a good one for the atheist mindset, as CS Lewis was very talented at explaining Christian ideas in a way that makes logical and philosophical sense.
  
  
• Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith by Mike Reeves - I confess I haven't read this one myself, but I love the author and I've heard him speak on this topic, and it really opened my eyes to explain the Trinity, which is one of the most mind-bending Christian teachings, yet it changes everything in an amazing way. Really worth checking out. Can also send you a link to his talks on it, if you prefer an audio option. He does some great church history stuff that warms my heart as well. We can learn a lot from those who came before us, and can shed light on our struggles and encourage us with their wisdom.

Just noticed I wrote a book here! Sorry about that. TL;DR I have had some experience with abuse in the church as a child and the subject of "spiritual authority" is a sore spot for me right now...

I just finished reading a great book that touches on the problem with some leaders in the church abusing their "Spiritual Authority." The book is called "Broken Trust: …a practical guide to identify and recover from toxic faith, toxic church, and spiritual abuse"
https://www.amazon.com/Broken-Trust-practical-spiritual-Overcoming-ebook/dp/B073491BLN

I started following a few people on Twitter, many who have had to overcome horrific things in churches (sexual abuse, rape, etc. . . ) and this book was recommended by one person I follow so I thought it would be interesting to read it. It is incredibly sad to read how under the name of "Christ's authority" horrific sins are committed. My own story, although not directly from a minister, is that the son of a prominent leader in a church I attended as a little girl raped me repeatedly. It was troubling as a young child to see how loved and respected this family was in the church I went to. The father was in charge of various ministries in the church and even boasted years later of all the good outreach he was doing. It was later found that he had sexually abused all the children in his own house (which was the reason his son sexually abused me) Not sure how extensive the abuse was, but he is in jail for life now last I heard.

Anyway. I am pained when I see any pastor mention that the congregation needs to submit to their authority. They should at least temper this teaching with the caveat that the congregation should only submit to them as they are submitting to Christ. If they ever deviate from that, they shouldn't submit! Paul the apostle said that we are to only follow him as he follows Christ, and if he preaches a gospel other than the one in which we have freedom in Christ, we are not to submit! So all the added yoke of slavery that leadership can often throw on the congregation often is just them standing in the way of our promised freedom. Galatians 5 is a much needed chapter to memorize and hide in our hearts. It was for freedom that Christ has set us free, no longer to be burdened by a yoke of slavery!

We must look to how Christ modeled leadership to us. This is how we are to discern if our leadership is the kind of leadership we should be submitting to. Jesus washed his disciples feet. He came to be the greatest servant of all. The main point is that we need to humbly serve each other, love each other, build each other up and encourage each other. A spirit of control is not of Jesus! Jesus did not come to control us. God never forces His will on us. It is not in His nature to do so. And any coercion is not from the Father either. God desires for us to come to Him willingly and with pure hearts.

This touches a sore spot in me right now as I have personally been told that I cannot be on the worship team at my church, even though I am a semi-professional musician and many other churches even desire to have me (singing at two different churches tomorrow actually, one in the morning and one in the evening.) I have been at this church for 3 years now. I felt I was patient in waiting and in the beginning I even respected that they just didn't put anyone on the team (although now I see a new young woman who isn't even a member yet made the team after just a few months at our church so that doesn't seem to be a hard fast rule either.)

The main reason they gave me for not being on the team this time was that I have a problem "submitting to authority." They haven't given me any specific examples. My husband and I have been fairly vocal when we feel that there are things said that we do not feel is Biblical, however. I would like to sit down and ask for specific examples of how they see me being rebellious, as my pastor mentioned indirectly that "rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." I replied that I do all I can to try and submit to whatever Jesus asks of me to do. But I think the biggest issue is the fact we have made it very clear that we will do whatever we feel the Holy Spirit leading us, regardless of what our leadership says we should be doing or not doing. One example is that we felt led to go to India (I had worked with a ministry there before in 2014 while I was at a different church and was asked back by the head of the ministry) We felt we were supposed to lead a team. We were prayed for by the leadership but they didn't really offer any support, in fact I was kept from sharing about the trip at a women's event as the trip wasn't considered "sanctioned" by the church. They later were willing to pray for us, which my husband and I were so thankful for! It was like we were thinking that we finally were being helped with the cross we were told we must bear.

Really, that is the hardest part in all of this. We feel Jesus calling us to things, we are willing to pick up our cross and carry it. Instead of our church helping with the weight of the cross we have been told to carry, they seemed to be throwing some stones in our path. (Not allowing me on the worship team so I don't have connections/relationships with band members for my recent album was another stumbling block) It makes the burden even harder for us then. I cry out and ask God why He even called us to a church that isn't interested in the things we are being called to and that just makes our calling that much more challenging.

The silver lining is that Jesus keeps showing us how we are being fruitful there regardless (had a woman I invited to church get spontaneously baptized a few weeks ago. A couple of young girls got baptized as well and I was their camp leader at a camp for incarcerated kids. God is now opening more doors then ever to sing outside the church so my husband is telling me not to worry that I don't have the opportunity to sing/play keys at my own. I have seen miracles where God has healed those I have prayed for, emotionally and physically, and financially God has richly blessed us- more last year than this year- and we just give when told to give and pray to not let our left hand see what our right is doing.)

All that said, we just have to keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We must run the race and pray that no one will cut in on us, even our leaders. We must pray for our leadership, that they will run the race worthy of the prize set before them as well.

Thankfully in my situation I have had some incredible visions the Holy Spirit has given to me that shows how Jesus is working in the midst of all of this struggle we are going through. I actually love my pastor so much. From what the Spirit is showing me he just needs to open up his hands and fully yield so that the Lord can build His house. I think my pastor's motives and intentions are pure, but I am not sure where his thinking on "authority" comes from? Is is just ingrained from his upbringing? Is he fearful that if he doesn't keep the church in "order" that chaos will ensue? We have to trust in the Holy Spirit to do His job in all of us. The more we all just yield to the Spirit, grow to know His voice and obey His voice, the more unified and orderly the church will be. Plus there will be more freedom to love, encourage, build up one another. We will be even more fruitful then! That is my heart's cry. Sure, there will still be some things our pastor would need to provide accountability for, but his job would be just that much easier to the extent he lets go of his own "authority" and just starts loving and serving Jesus' church in more freedom as well. I think he would find rest and joy and love ministry that much more, IMHO.

I really do recommend reading the Bible with an inquisitive mind as a solid starting point. You don't need to dive in without guidance, however. If you decide you would like to read it, I've provided some advice below. You can take these things in baby steps:

• First, you need to pick a translation. There are two types: "word for word" and "thought for thought." The former is more accurate to the original Hebrew/Greek, while the latter is meant to be more comprehensible to a modern audience. If you want "word for word," then I and many others -- including Bible scholars -- enjoy the ESV (English Standard Version). It's a modern translation that's both precise and clear. The NKJV (New King James Version) is also a good "word for word" translation, and it comes on free YouTube audiobook. If instead you want "thought for thought," I'd suggest the NLT (New Living Translation). It's the only "thought for thought" translation I'm familiar with that doesn't seem to regularly distort the text on the finer points. You can access nearly every translation for free on the website Biblegateway.
  
  
• Next, you need a reading plan. I strongly recommend starting with the Gospels. There are three "synoptic Gospels" (the word synoptic comes from the Greek synoptikos, meaning "able to be seen together"). These three are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The synoptic Gospels each tell the story of Jesus from a relatively similar perspective, but differ in various details (like writing style, emphasis of themes, the recording of Jesus' parables, etc.). Then there is the fourth Gospel, John, which takes a totally different and unique perspective from the synoptics. Therefore, you should start by reading one of the synoptics (Mark is a good choice and is also the shortest in length, it can be read front to back in under 2 hours) and then read John, to familiarize yourself with the heart and soul of Christianity: the story of Jesus Christ.
  
  
• After this, I suggest you read some of the "Epistles," found in the NT after the Gospels. These are letters -- sometimes addressed to a specific person, other times addressed to an entire church or community -- that Jesus' Apostles wrote after His death. They give greater depth, detail, and clarity into the teachings of Christ and Christianity. Most of them are quick reads, but at the same time, packed full of meaning. In no particular order, I suggest you check out, especially, the following Epistles: 1 John (pronounced "First John", different from the Gospel of John but same author); Romans; Ephesians; 2 Corinthians ("Second Corinthians"); 1 Peter ("First Peter"); and James.
  
  
• You can also choose to read Acts, which is the historical account of what the Apostles did after Jesus' death and resurrection (and offers insight into how Christianity went from a tiny community of Jews living in first century Judea, to more than 2 billion believers worldwide).
  
  
• At any time during this process, you can "take a break" from the NT and go to the OT. The OT is further removed from modern-day and thus, naturally, will sometimes be more difficult to decipher -- but it gets easier the more you go at it! In the OT, I would suggest first checking out the Psalms (absolutely beautiful Divine poetry), Genesis (the account of creation, Eden, the fall, the flood, Abraham, etc.), and Proverbs (a collection of short statements of powerful wisdom).
  
  There is also an excellent YouTube series called "Read Scripture" by the channel The Bible Project. It's a collection of 8-12 minute illustrated summaries of each book of the Bible. I find them incredibly well-done, easy to watch, and insightful. I'd recommend using this as a tool. Here is a link to their NT playlist and here is a link to their OT playlist. (You can also consider purchasing a Study Bible, which has footnotes from Bible scholars helping to clarify the text -- I personally own and enjoy the ESV Study Bible from Crossway.)
  
  This should be enough to keep you occupied for a little while, if you're interested. :) Someone else suggested Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, which is also a great book.
  
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  TLDR:
  
  Translation: ESV or NKJV for precision, NLT for clarity.
  
  Reading List: (1) Pick one of Matthew, Mark, or Luke. (2) John. (3) Epistles [I recommend 1 John, Romans, Ephesians, 2 Corinthians, 1 Peter, James, in any order]. (4) Acts. (5) At any time, take a break from the NT and check out the OT book of Psalms, Genesis, and/or Proverbs.
  
  Helpful Study Tools: The Bible Project on YouTube, the ESV Study Bible, and Biblegateway.com
  
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  The Bible is the best-selling book (technically, library of books) in the history of the world, and for good reason. If you subscribe to the Christian religion, as I do, then it represents nothing less than the all-powerful God of the universe's personal revelation to mankind. "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16). God loves you without limit, in your best of times and worst of times, and desires deeply to have a relationship with you through Christ. "[Jesus said,] 'Abide in Me, and I in you. . . . As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My love.'" (John 15:4,9). This relationship of love can utterly transform your life, as it has my own.
  
  And frankly, even if you're not a Christian, the Bible is still packed with insight, value, comfort, and even entertainment (I would love the stories regardless of whether I was a Christian). It represents, at the bare minimum, the collective wisdom of a major subset of humanity collected and kept over thousands of years.
  
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  That's all I can think to say for now. Please feel free to reach out to me by PM if you ever have any questions!
  
  "[Jesus said,] 'Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.'" (Matthew 7:7)
  
  Thanks for reading and God bless you.

The "problem" you seem to have is something that every Christian on earth struggles with - the disconnection between knowing something in your head and knowing it in your heart.

This is something I struggle with - there's a stark difference between being intellectually convinced of the existence of God and actually feeling like He exists.

There's a difference between knowing "Yeah, yeah, God loves me." And actually feeling the incalculable, unrestrained love of God.

There's a difference between knowing theologically that you're forgiven and actually feeling forgiven.

It's a difficult hurdle. Fortunately, God is there to help you.

God sends the Holy Spirit to us so that we can experience the presence of God, so that our knowledge of Him can drop down from our head to our heart.

For a long time, I sought an experience. I'm an extreme skeptic, so I'm always incredibly doubtful of any of the miraculous stories I hear from others. At the same time, it's because of this doubt that I so desperately wanted to experience God for myself.

I decided that, if I were to take God seriously, I would need to do whatever I could on my end to "press into" God and leave the rest up to Him. This meant that I would go to the front of the church during worship, or ask people lay hands on me and pray for me. As a skeptic and an introvert, these were huge steps for me. And many times, I wouldn't have a tangible experience with God, and I would get disheartened.

However, there have been a number of times now when I really did have experiences with God.

God lives in you. You have the Holy Spirit inside you; Christ Himself lives in you. However, for whatever reason, God sometimes gives us strong, palpable experiences and awareness of His presence, whereas most of the time we're not aware.

As someone who was originally skeptical of the "charismas," or of personal encounters with God and His Holy Spirit, I now urge you to pursue relationship with God.

That means spending time in prayer. I grew up always praying in my head with my eyes open, because I knew that God could still hear my prayers. However, I've discovered more and more that the act of going in my room, closing the door, kneeling, and praying out loud is richly rewarding. That's how people prayed throughout the Bible. I think that it helps me to connect that I'm praying the God of the universe, rather than just thinking to myself and projecting my desires.

For me, personally, walks alone and in nature have brought me closer to God. I'm someone who's always been deeply affected by nature - even in my doubt, I see the hand of the Creator in His Creation. And some of my encounters with God have been when I've been on a walk alone, not in a church.

Nonetheless, Christian community is extremely important. The Bible affirms repeatedly the importance of the church. If you're not already, try to attend church regularly and get involved with a youth group. I'm incredibly introverted, and in high school I would have thought I'd never be involved in a social group like that. However, our desire to know God should be higher than our desire for personal comfort. We need Christian friends and community surrounding us - people who will love and encourage us, people we can confide our sins and struggles to, people who will pray for us.

Worship is also incredibly important. I didn't used to sing in church. In fact, I went to a Christian school, and I would often remain seated during chapel worship. I was a Christian, but I thought that worship just "wasn't the way I connected with God." I thought that other people who are into praise music can connect with Him that way, whereas I connect with Him in other ways. While it's true that some people connect to God through certain channels more than others, we are all called to worship. I was making worship about myself - What can I get out of it? - instead of it being about God. Ironically, the more you make worship about God and not about yourself, the more you're bound to actually get out of it. This is one of the radical truths of Christianity - the more you give up of yourself, the more you truly are yourself. The more you live for others and for God, the more you're truly alive. It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Lastly, I must mention that good sermons and good books are really helpful, especially if your mind works similarly to mine. I mentioned in another comment Mere Christianity and The Reason for God - I consider them both must-reads for any Christian, but especially the one struggling with doubt. There are other good books, some specific to a particular doubt. (For instance, if your doubt has to do with the relationship between Christianity and science, then The Language of God is a must read.)

As far as sermons go, I really recommend Timothy Keller. If you have a smartphone or mp3 player, you can easily get podcasts for free.

I'll be praying for you. Feel free to PM me with any additional questions, or any particular doubts.

Here is a shorter, more approachable summary of some of the evidences I attempted to explain. I did not write this necessarily thinking you need to be a NT Scholar or a Philosopher, but rather to show you that this is an ongoing battle and Christianity as had a resurgence in academia today, particularly among philosophers of religion, since Alvin Plantinga helped show it is intellectual credible after the fall of verificationism/positivism (the self defeating notion that only that which can be acquired through the senses is true or falsifiable). He explained that even without evidence, in the absence of a defeater for Christian theism, belief in god is justified as a properly basic belief--one that is arrived at without inference to anything else in reality (i.e. the belief that you are not a brain in a vat that is being tricked by a mad scientist to believe you are here...you can't prove it is true that this is not the case, but you'd be crazy to think otherwise!). Know that God does command us to keep up with the evidence of Christianity, and defenses for it, so that we will be prepared to answer for it. So to some extent you should work on your apologetics, but I think it is important that you do not let this distract you from what's really important and faith-deriving: pursuing God! Read His word, and apply it to your life. Take Him seriously, and pray to Him. Christianity is not a religion: it is a relationship. If an author wanted His characters to know Him, He'd have to write Himself into that story...Jesus is God in our place.

But how are you to have a relationship with someone you do not understand, and who's ways you have not attempted to comprehend? You must draw close to Him if you are to trust Him. The more you follow His way, the more you will understand it and see that He is worth following. Faith is trust within the context of a relationship wherein the two partners assure the other of their love to each other progressively over time. In this case, Jesus has already shown His love, and continues to, but it is up to you to find the reality of just how much He loves you. Read His word (where we can encounter Him, in the text or in the actions and words of others), submit to Him daily, and serve others while proclaiming His name (through your actions and words). Pursue genuine love--which is to give with none to gain, and I pray that you will find Him at the center of everything as I have. I'm happy to answer respectful questions. Feel free to PM me or reply to this thread. I recently wrote some replies on a reddit post entitled "how many people are going to hell" on this sub and I think it would one step closer to understanding if you learned my position on it (you don't have to agree but it should nevertheless help you on your way to understanding a doctrine of Christianity).

Further resources I recommend on apologetics and Christianity in general (you'll probably not find all your answers in one place):

The ESV Bible (read it once a year with commentaries.)

Become familiar with church history and theology

Jesus Calling

Ravi Zacharias: RZIM.org, Why Jesus, More Than a Carpenter, Jesus Among Other Gods

Fritz Ridenour: So What's the Difference

William Lane Craig: Reasonablefaith.org, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview, Reasonable Faith or his more approachable On Guard (Student Edition), his youtube channel and podcast

J.P. Moreland: Love God With All Your Mind

N.T. Wright (who emulates C.S. Lewis when he goes outside of his NT Scholarship): The Resurrection of The Son of God, Simply Christian, Surprised by Hope, Jesus and the Victory of God

John Lennox: Gunning for God, God's Undertaker

C.S. Lewis: The Abolition of Man, Mere Christianity, The Great Divorce, The Problem of Pain, A Grief Observed, The Screwtape Letters, Reflections on the Psalms, Surprised by Joy

G.K. Chesterton: Orthodoxy

Van Til: Apologetics

Charles Spurgeon

Beth Moore

John Piper's books and website desiringGod.org

Lee Strobel: The Case For Christ/Faith (introductory)

Frank Turek: Stealing From God, I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be and Atheist (never read the latter, though I am under the impression it is not as scholarly as the other resources I mentioned though may serve as a good introduction)

Alvin Plantinga: Where the Conflict Really Lies, Warranted Christian Belief or his more approachable Knowledge and Belief in God, some lecture notes on brief arguments for God's existence

Got Question.org (I don't think it's that great for apologetics, though it attempts to use the Bible to answer many theological questions....just stay away from their "young earth" and "creationism" (attempts to refute evolution by natural selection in an effort to support a literal interpretation of the Adam and Eve story) stuff and you'll be fine. I haven't investigated creationism yet, though, so I admit it is possible that evolution is not necessarily true but I don't feel inclined to think otherwise. Their basic argument is that the existing evidence for evolution requires the presupposition of atheism and can be easily interpreted as consistent with a literal interpretation of the Adam and Eve story.)

Bishop Robert Barron's Youtube Channel

an essay on the problem of evil

Switchfoot, Twenty One Pilots, David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, and Mercey Me are also some good bands with a Christian message that I think have lyrics--whether you like them with the music or not--that are theologically deep.

And of course, prayer and your own critical thinking/meditation.

Sorry to hear this. I’ve struggled with depression on and off for about 10 years. This took me through a lot of heavy addictions and a long recovery process. I did talk to a counselor quite a bit and that helped. But I kept getting hit with waves of depression and once I had quit all the drugs and alcohol I had no way to cope with it except to turn to Jesus. One particular dark time I had lost the will to live and was considering psychiatric diagnosis. But before I made that step, I got better. And shortly after that i met my wife. There’s alway a ray of sunshine waiting on the other side of every valley.

But I got depressed again. So I took a very proactive approach to understanding it psychologically and spiritually. I’ll share some of what I learned, but you maybe should determine the best way to treat your depression. Don’t feel bad. Most people get depressed at some point in their life. I hope some of this helps.

Psychological side: You Can Be Happy no matter what

This book saved my life!

Spiritual side: I studied the Bible for 3 weeks and compiled this list of scriptures for daily victory.


I. Identify Problem: self (sinful flesh)

Where there is no vision, the people perish:
but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Prov 29:18

But I know that in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Rom 7:18,19

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Rom 8:7

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom 7:24,25

But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead.

II Cor 1:9

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; We are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; Cast down, but not destroyed;

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

II Cor 4:7-10


II. God’s Instructions on living with flesh

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

Luke 9:23,24

Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Eph 5:14-16

That ye put off concerning the former conversation of the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Eph 4:22-24

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Heb 12:1-3

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin.

I Pet 4:1

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

III. God’s Promises we can attain victory

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Rom 8:1,2

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Rom 6:5-7

For to be carnally minded is death;
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Rom 8:6

For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Gal 6:8

For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

II Cor 4:15-18

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

II Tim 1:7


IV. After getting the victory, what’s next?

Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Eph 6:10-17

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ

II Cor 10:3-5

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Rom 12:2

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

II Tim 2:3,4

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do: forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus

Phil 3:13,14

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Phil 4:8

Sorry for the long post!

The key thing to know is when to cry out to Jesus for help and when to get ahold of yourself and reign in your thinking. Sometimes we need to diagnose the source of sadness, so we can address the root cause. Other times it’s best not to explore the pit because you will only get pulled in deeper the more you dwell on it.

Don’t think deep thoughts about life when you’re in a bad mood. Fast from your thoughts and wait on your mood to improve.

Don’t measure the success of your life strictly on natural accomplishments. God doesn’t need us help him build his kingdom. The true measure of the success of your life is how much of your time you devoted to Jesus to pursue a relationship with him.

If you have questions I’m here for you.
I’m praying for God to lighten your darkness.

Here's something from my book on eschatology that addresses your question.

Why Should I Care About The Future?

I have a lot of pastor friends who don’t know what they believe about the future. They honestly don’t even want to explore it, because everything they have studied so far seems to them foggy and confusing. The deeper they get the foggier it gets. Many of them have already abandoned a strict Dispensationalist view, but are comfortably uncomfortable with saying, “I don’t know how it will all turn out, so I’ll just serve Jesus and wait and see.”

This is a relatively safe approach, and certainly easier than having to wrestle for themselves with heavy eschatological issues. But there are two problems with this attitude.

First, it isn’t biblical. My goodness! Jesus and Paul and John and Peter and Matthew and Mark and Luke and Jude and James and whoever wrote Hebrews all talked about it. So did Moses and David and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Isaiah and Daniel and Malachi (I have to stop here...too much typing!). How can we, as people faithful to the Word of God, simply ignore or put on a shelf something that is so significantly present in the whole of Scripture? If we are going to be faithful servants, ably handling the Word of God, we have to come to grips with these issues.

Second, the future determines the past. Yes, I’ll say it again, the future determines the past. What I mean is this. If you and I make plans to go on a picnic next Thursday, that future event determines what we do before it arrives. We have to decide where to go. Someone has to bring the sandwiches. Someone needs to get the wine. Will there be a blanket to sit on? How will we deal with the ants? Plans must be made, or else the picnic might not happen at all!

Similarly, what we expect about the “big” future determines what we do before it arrives. Is Jesus coming back to rescue a few who are holding the fort awaiting his arrival? Then our best option is to dig in, save as many souls as we can, expect things to get worse, forget about transforming society, and hold on for dear life. But if Jesus is coming back to the welcome of a victorious church, then we have work to do; things like making disciples of the nations (not just a few in the nations), teaching the world to obey everything Jesus has commanded us, saving souls—yes—but also transforming cultures, influencing economics, recovering the arts, channeling technology toward godly goals, and a whole host of other things. If Jesus is coming back really soon, we don’t need to send people to seminary—there isn’t time for that. If he’s coming back after we have accomplished our purposes, then we have time on our side—send a kid to seminary and prepare him for a life of ministry, train up children to be good parents and grandparents, elect godly leaders, write books, and plant trees, for God’s sake (literally).

When the ancient cathedrals were being built in Europe, the Christians understood that it might take a hundred or more years to complete them. When the foundations were laid, forests of trees were planted to serve as scaffolding a generation later. Stonemasons trained their sons to follow them in the trade and multiple generations of families made their living working on the church. One cathedral in England took a thousand years to finish! But it’s been finished for five hundred years and is still used for the worship of God. This is a far cry from throwing up a tin building in the hopes that it will last 20 years until Jesus comes.

The future determines the past. What do you believe about the future?

(pages 27ff)

Just remember, the stone has already been rolled away so we don’t need breakthrough, we have it.

Some background info-fasting surpresses the carnal voice in our lives and helps us to see clear. It helps us to learn that the “spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” is before Jesus died, and now that he died and rose again, our spirit is willing and our flesh says amen. Fasting gets rid of “cobwebs” so to speak and makes things clear. It’s truly amazing. The self control I have grown in from fasting is so awesome-it really changes your perspective on things. It teaches you not to live sensual and not to let your flesh be in charge. Not to mention the physical and health benefits from fasting. The important thing about fasting is that fasting and prayer must go together. With fasting we put off the old and with prayer we put on the new. I can’t even begin to talk about all the good fruit I’ve seen in my life with fasting. It’s truly a powerful tool God has given us.

I highly recommend you check out The Complete Guide to Fasting by Dr. Fung. It's a very informative book and has lots of great info on fasting. I do practice a fasted lifestyle and do extended fasting, I have a podcast episode here I did on fasting, if you'd like some spiritual tips.

For longer fasts, It's ok to take supplements when you fast-potassium, magnesium, and sodium are great. Check out the r/fasting sub, too. Lots of great info there :)

I can't speak for the general population, but from my experience there seems to be a shift in understanding moving from "Genesis is literal" to Genesis is an awesome picture of what happened, written in practical language people of the day could approach and understand.

I believe in the big bang (and that God caused it), and that the 6 days of creation were not "days" (it has been almost 14 billion years after all), but more like a musical "count off" to the main point of the whole story: humanity and our relationship with God.

I love science. It simply explains the "what" and "how" of creation. Theology provides the "why".

For miracles, I believe they happened in the Bible. If you move in the right circles you can see (and experience) that they continue to happen- but then you get labeled as extreme and weird- even in Christian groups. It's always interesting talking about them- it's like there is a weird hushed tone you have to talk in because it's so counter-cultural and off the grid.

Hope that helps!

Edit: If you're interested there are a couple great books you may enjoy. The language of God written by the head of the human genome project and The Genesis Enigma. Both address how the Bible is scientifically accurate when read correctly.

This is an excellent book on journeying from identity to forgiveness to deliverance.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1942587457/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

King Jesus, would You bring Your beloved under the covenant of Your blood, by which You purchased Your child in full. May there be all light, no darkness, and would Holy Spirit guide this one through wounds and sins, to receive healing and breaking of chains in Your name, that there would be no ground for the enemy to dwell, and that in Your name, the enemy of their soul would be cast out and this one would receive a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit to enter into newer levels of freedom, and more than anything more intimacy, and receiving even more love from You, King Jesus. Please send this one of Yours men and women of character who can help them walk through this season of inner healing, forgiveness, deliverance, freedom, and that they may be discipled by wise, humble men and women of character to go deeper in intimacy with You yet again, to then participate in Your Kingdom works as You restore, rebuild, recover, and clothe them in all of Your righteousness, dignity, honor, favor, as co-heir to the King, Christ Himself. All for Your glory! In Jesus' name we pray: amen!

Freedom is coming, in His name.

I’m going to post a comment I’ve written in another thread:

It sounds to me like you’re trying to jump over some steps. You cannot have a mature, Christlike romantic relationship with someone until you are following Him completely. Granted, you’re still going to sin as long as you live, but trying to jump from your current lifestyle to one where you’re involved with someone in a wholesome and godly manner isn’t possible, and will lead to frustration on both ends.

Both my fiancé and I have struggled with this same issue of pursuing the easy life compared to the godly one, and it was only when each of us surrendered our desires to be in a relationship/ live the way we wanted that we were brought together.

I recommend praying about taking a break from all romantic relationships for a while, finding a mentor you trust and can meet with regularly, and attempt to form habits of seeking God. If you pursue Him wholeheartedly (or even halfheartedly) I firmly believe He will take you on a journey to maturity you’d never have expected. Some habits I recommend are the Spiritual Disciplines (ie Bible intake, prayer, silence, etc). I’ve found this book so helpful— I decided to reread it to annotate, pray, and attempt to implement it as I go through it a second time.

This isn’t something you can do on your own, but God has the power, and He has placed you in community that can support you on the journey ahead.

You need to start being involved in community. You’ll never find a church that agrees with your theology 100% (and if you do, you should run: that raises serious flags to me). But it is a command from the Bible to meet together with other Christians. So try some churches. If their “heresies” contradict foundations of the faith (ie. they don’t believe what the Bible says regarding salvation-significant issues), look for another church. If the church seems to be mostly Biblical, start listening to see if God is calling you there, or calling you away from there. If they don’t have heresies on salvation-significant issues, assume God has called you to that church for the time being. You need community—the only healthy way to find a spouse is within community, so start there.

I am sorry you are going through this. I don't know your situation beyond what you described but I would encourage you to do your best to shine where you are. find close community of solid Christian roots and be the light and salt your family needs. However, if God is leading you elsewhere, certainly do not let me stand in the way

I think there's a book (or video if you prefer) that might really help you navigate your conversations with your family in a way that will help them see the folly of their thinking.

It's called "tactics" by Greg Koukl and it's about how to use questions to understand people better and then using more questions to help them see the issues

book

video part 1
video part 2

I know I already answered this when you posted the same question over at /r/Reformed, but I wanted to answer here as well, so that others could potentially benefit.

Here's my reading list on Christian Perspectives on Creation. I don't agree with everything written by all of the authors, but they are all worth reading. If you are looking more for a Scientific perspective I'd particularly recommend Collins, Jelsma, and Haarsma since those are the ones written by scientists instead of theologians. If you didn't see it already, I also listed a number of other resources by Collins yesterday in the post about his AMA.

• The Literal Meaning of Genesis by Augustine of Hippo.
  
• Commentary on Genesis - Volume 1 by John Calvin.
  
• What is Darwinism? by Charles Hodge.
  
• The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief by Francis Collins.
  
• The Creationists: From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design by Ronald Numbers.
  
• Is Creation Science Reformed? by Tony Jelsma (short article)
  
• The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate by John Walton.
  
• Origins: Christian Perspectives on Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design by Deborah and Loren Haarsma.
  
• Also get a few good commentaries on Genesis. The rule of thumb on Genesis commentaries is that the author's name should start with W: Wenham, Waltke, or Walton

If you are in any way interested in Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy, visit a Mass/Divine Liturgy, having first contacted the priest and asked him to chat afterwards.

Also, I highly recommend this book. It'll lay out the history and Faith of the Eastern Church in a way that is fascinating and fun to read, without being pushy. Even if you feel led away from Orthodoxy entirely, you'll at least have a better idea of who we are :)

\>>> Even if you believe in God you have to account for all the stuff we're discovering and when all piled up it points to an evolutionary progression.

Everything points to micro-evolution. That is fine. No evidence in the fossil record of massive steps of macro-evolution. There should be huge numbers of intermediate fossils. They are simply not there.

\>>> iPhones notwithstanding, the evidence says complexity did in fact often progress incrementally.

Things in life that are engineered to work had though behind them. The cell contains micro-machinery. This is irreducibly complex. And probability point against abiogenesis. Dr. John Ashton points this out very well. That is why current theory's include asteroids seeding life. Precisely because they know how improbable life was to form here.

​

And again - talking about macro evolution and abiogenesis. Not micro evolution. That is fine and observable.

​

Here is his bio----------

Dr. John Ashton Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Victoria University, Melbourne, and Adjunct Professor of Applied Sciences at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, the largest Australian tertiary institution. He holds a BSc (Honors) with prize in chemistry and PhD in epistemology (a branch of philosophy dealing with the limits of knowledge), also with prize, from the University of Newcastle and an MSc in chemistry from the University of Tasmania. Dr. Ashton is a Chartered Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, and a former Honorary Associate in the School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences at the University of Sydney.

https://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Impossible-Dr-John-Ashton/dp/0890516812/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542396973&sr=8-1&keywords=evolution+impossible+dr+john+ashton

​

I don't have the exact quote now but, christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga said something like "our interpretation of scripture and science are different ways to approach the objetive truth, thus, when they disagree about something, there may be a misunderstanding/error in one or both that we need to work out"

He wrote a book on the subject for those interested in a philosophical, more deep take on the issue.

For those more into YT, I strongly reccomend the movie [Evolution vs God](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0u3-2CGOMQ
).

The supposed conflict of science vs religion is false. The conflict is scientism vs religion. True Science deals with observation, theorizing and experimentation.

But it would be naive to think that what is sold today as science is free from bias and ideology.

My personal views on the subject are:

There is no macro evolution, and all species were created as they are, but are somehow making little adjustments tru dna combinations within the same kind.

Only life can create life, non organic chemicals cannot create the information imbued in the DNA of the living beings.

I got not strong stance on the age of the earth. It could be 6~7000 years or 4.5 Billions (radiometric dating has some issues..). Whatever the age doesn't change the fact that God did it.

Finally, I keep in mind that the ultimate truth will never be fully acknowledged by humans The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever Dt 29:29.

My humble opinion/understanding

> So: what is your take on the subject?

Long story short, I too was drawn to Reformed theology and had to ask myself many questions about paedobaptism. In my case my study was both personal and academic (I wrote a 30 page paper on the development of covenantal paedobaptism for my secular schooling). At the end of my study I remained staunchly and firmly credobaptist, now I'm a confessional Reformed Baptist in a Baptist seminary.

> like the dispensationalism vs covenant theology vs new covenant theology debate, I really don't know what to think. It is alkso the position I came to after studying to topic.

Have you heard of 1689 Federalism? 1689 Federalism is the way the early Particular Baptist approached the topic.

> Essentially, as far as I understand it, it is said that baptism is really the sacrament of circumcision for the new covenant.

And that's one of the key places where covenantal paedobaptists go wrong. While circumcision was the sign of the Old Covenant and Baptism is the sign of the New Covenant, the fulfillment of physical circumcision is circumcision of the heart, aka regeneration. Here's a good take on circumcision and baptism.

In general I would really recommend this blog, the author is an excellent Reformed Baptist writer and historian. He has a lot on baptism, circumcision, and 1689 Federalism. The blog also interacts with R Scott Clark a lot, I saw someone recommended him earlier.

If you would like are also penalty of historic works from Baptists in which they articulated and defend their views. For example, John Gill's writings and those of James Haldane (Presbyterian churchman turned Baptist) are quite good.

There are also a lot of modern books that I would recommend, two being Baptism of Disciples Alone by Fred Malone and The Distinctiveness of Baptist Covenant Theology by Pascal Denault. Again these are just a few of many.

I know this was a lot of link dumping (and this was just the tip of the iceberg), but it always sad to see when Baptists come to Reformed theology they skip right over the rich and mighty historic Particular/Reformed Baptist tradition and head right into Paedobaptist works, thinking that's all there is by way of Reformed scholarship.

God bless.

Hi, as somebody who has no clue what to think on this issue, and is going to hopefully be working in some apologetic capacity in the near future, I feel for you.

What comforts me is that even if evolution is true, it makes the most sense to be a Christian theist, as opposed to a naturalist. It's sort of a complicated argument, but it could give you some peace of mind, as it has for me (:

There is a philosopher named, Alvin Plantinga. He is renowned for having made the argument above, and I think it's profoundly comforting. The whole thing is laid out in a book, entitled, Where the Conflict Really Lies.

Plantinga summarizes the thesis in this video. However, if you aren't used to reading philosophy, I would caution you before you bought the book or anything. It's the real deal; a high level work. It's not like reading Kant or Locke in a modern sense, but it isn't exactly a cakewalk either.

Hope this is helpful!

For me I'm going to go a bit old school. First "The Abolition of Man" by C. S. Lewis, which argues for a sort of 'Universal Truth'. I thought it was endlessly fascinating, and it's really an easy, short read. (The audio book was only an few hours long). There's also Lewis's "Mere Christianity" which is once again easy and short. In it he sort of starts with a shortened version of the argument found in Abolition, and from there discusses why Christianity itself works as the 'Universal Truth'.

If your looking for something thicker, I would suggest G. K. Chesterton's "Heretics", which blasts away the philosophy of his contemporaries (Which is still applicable today), "Orthodoxy" which discusses his own conversion and his own search for truth, and "The Everlasting Man" which discusses the history of mankind and Christianity's role in it. (This was also the book that converted Lewis' intellect).

Chesterton is not necessarily a difficult read because of lengthy words, or because he references something no longer fashionable, but because of his ideas. I like to think I can understand things fairly well, but I had to pause often to go over a phrase, or to really think about a thought he presented. But both authors are very enjoyable.

From my perspective, no, it does not. I'm an amillenialist and partial preterist, and I reject the ideas of a pretribulation rapture and a literal millennial kingdom. I don't think people who hold these views are heretical or anything, but I strongly disagree with them.

What is heretical, and directly contrary to Scripture, is making detailed predictions of the when, where, and how of the End Times (e.g. Harold Camping). This particular page does not appear to engage in this, fortunately, but it's quite common.

Growing up, I'd never held to any set theory on the End Times; I believed in some sort of nebulously-described "rapture" and coming tribulation, and thought the Revelation of John was entirely about future events.

After coming to Reddit I read a book entitled The End is Near...Or Maybe Not! written by /u/Im_Just_Saying. It's an excellent and concise study of the End Times, and it pretty much single-handedly made me into the solid amil partial preterist I am today.

I read Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp last year and very much enjoyed it. It really challenged my thinking in how to deal with children, not just my own. If two kids fight over a toy the automatic response is "who had it first?" but that puts the kid who originally had it automatically in the right, even if they were being unkind to the other child. The point of raising children is to, as the book discusses, aim the child's heart at God, and not at themselves or you.

I didn't agree with every single detail he discusses, but I can certainly recommend it as I learned so much.

>in the opinion of modern scholars

In the opinion of some modern scholars. The opinions to which you give voice are hardly universal and they're trending toward a minority among contemporary scholars. Such views were much more widely held at the beginning of the 20th Century, for instance, than they are today.

Among the scholars to which you can refer to good scholarship and a less Modernist point of view are N.T. Wright and Scott Hahn. Both are (as far as I know) well regarded scholars of the Bible. There are others but those are the two that spring to mind.

>the disciples didn't really believe Jesus was God (if he existed)

I think this is false on the face of it, and even Bart Ehrman concludes that it was their belief in the resurrection that convinced Jesus' disciples that Jesus was God in the years immediately following the crucifixion. See here for a radio interview with Ehrman about his book, How Jesus Became God.

Ehrman courted the disfavor of his atheist admirers in one of his other recent books, where he took aim at the Jesus mythicists, arguing that Jesus was definitely an historical character.

Again, I would refer you to N.T. Wright and his works on the historicity of the Bible.

> the Bible is a collage of stolen myths

Once again, this is just flatly false and is only believed by the most extreme "scholars" in the Jesus Mythicist camp (as far as I know).

>My second question: is there a term for someone who studies Biblical topics in general? As in one who studies ancient near-east cultures, comparative mythology, languages, Biblical source documents, Jewish literature, archaeology, and other "Biblical Humanities"? That's what I like.

I don't know about a "term", but check out Scott Hahn, the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, this book (if you can find it), and especially (for this question), I would recommend John Walton and his books, The Lost World of Genesis One and Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible.

There are not too many big name theologians who hold that view (actually, there aren't too many big name Reformed Baptists).

The best book that I have personally read on the topic is this book by Pascal Denault

This book I have not read, but I have heard really good things about. It's a compilation of different authors like Richard Barcellos, Jim Renihan, James White, Tom Hicks, etc.

Masculine Mandate by Richard D Phillips
Manhood Restored by Eric Msaon
Family Shepherds and Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham
Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp

Mere Christianity is excellent.

I happen to like Timothy Ware's The Orthodox Church, for obvious reasons.

The Case for Christ (the [book][1], although the [film][2] adaptation wasn't horrible) and Cold Case Christianity would probably be good reads for you.

Case for Christ was written by an investigative journalist and legal editor for the Chicago Tribune. It details his transition from Atheism to Christianity, and how his attempt to debunk Christianity lead to him coming to Christ.

Cold Case Christianity was written by a detective who solved a number of high-profile cold cases. He has a similar story, as his book details his conversion from Atheism to Christianity through the use of cold-case investigation techniques.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0310345863/

[2]: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6113488/

I've heard good things about this book, which may help.

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-World-Genesis-One-Cosmology/dp/0830837043

I have actually read this book…

http://www.amazon.com/The-Orthodox-Church-New-Edition/dp/0140146563/

... and trying to start reading (among a lot of others) this one…

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0916586820/

You might say it is more of a history phase I am going through right now more than anything else. While I classify myself as a Protestant I consider myself non-denominational and more curious why we differ more than anything else. But on what you said online…

http://www.biblewheel.com/forum/showthread.php?2235-Lucifer-in-Septuagint

http://www.puritanboard.com/f24/why-did-septuagint-put-lucifer-word-howl-50019/

… yep. That is one of the specific examples why I asked.

Here is a good book on this subject.

http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Near-Maybe-Not/dp/1470001772

My small group is going through Shepherding a Child's Heart right now by Ted Tripp. We really like it so far.

I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Turek and Geisler

Stealing from God by Frank Turek

Tactics by Greg Koukl

The Emmaus Code by David Limbaugh

I feel that I am in a pretty conservative church. We have only one adamant young earth creationist. I try to emphasize that one's view of origins doesn't matter in the sense that the Bible was not trying to be a science textbook in the relevant sections.

One of the more prominent OT theologians (who doesn't get as much exposure as the others who are opinionated but not theologians) wrote a useful book on the subject lately, The Lost World of Genesis One.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Lost-World-Genesis-One/dp/0830837043/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404304146&sr=8-1&keywords=john+lost+world+of+genesis