Turning Point

Dr. David Jeremiah

Articles by Dr. David Jeremiah

How To and Reference

Life is a never-ending class in “how to.” Thankfully, reference materials and how-to and self-improvement materials exist in greater quantities than we could ever work through. The challenge is not finding help, but choosing among the plethora of options. But that creates a different problem: a little thing called trust. If you are looking for help, where do you go? If your question is in the objective realm, then almost anyone’s advice will work. There are some areas in which the beliefs, character, and reputation of a person are not critical. But what if you need help with your marriage, with knowing God, or with raising children—more subjective areas of life? Then, the beliefs, character, and reputation of a teacher are much more critical. It would be wonderful if there were a reference source that was totally trustworthy in everything it discussed. There is such a book—the Word of God.

Battle Cry

If you search in the “Books” section of Amazon.com using this term—“video games”—you will be shown thousands of books covering every conceivable aspect of the subject: history of video games, catalogs of games, music in video games, video game computer programming, graphic arts, and, most importantly, “how to” books written about individual games.

The Battle for Your Faith

Are you a Christian? If so, the battle for your faith is raging, and doubt, disillusionment, and discouragement are the weapons Satan employs to distract and detour you in your walk with God. At some level, the battle for your faith is ongoing. If you yield to his tactics, Satan receives glory, for your unbelief will affect others. Think of how the ten spies faltered in their faith and infected the entire nation of Israel with fear in Numbers 13. Your faith can strengthen others by your testimony, just as your unbelief can weaken them. Our spirituality, or lack thereof, is contagious.

When God Says “Yes”

Fill in the blank (with one word): “God is .” If you already know how the Bible completes that statement, good for you! But I’m sad to report that you are among a minority of religiously-inclined folks in the United States. While the vast majority of Americans profess to believe in God, a majority of Americans don’t have a very positive view of the God they believe in! Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion wanted to know what Americans think about God. So, in 2005, they hired the famous Gallup polling organization to find out.[i] A 400-question survey was filled out by 1,721 adults, and the Institute began releasing the results in early 2006. In part, the survey instructions said, “We know that a lot of Americans believe in God, but we want to know what you think God’s personality is like and how engaged God is in the world.” After reading the results, I can only say that most Americans who believe in God don’t know Him as well as they should or could. [i] http://www.baylor.edu/mediacommunications/news.php?action=story&story=41678 (accessed November 8, 2013).

Biography & History

No one really knows who wrote the first biography or autobiography, but Augustine’s Confessions is probably one of the earliest examples of the genre. And while there is no way to give a quantitative answer about who has the most biographies written about them, Jesus Christ must be the forerunner. No one knows for certain how many books exist about Him, beginning with the four “authorized” accounts by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Personally, I love reading Christian and missionary biographies. When I read stories of people like William Carey, William Wilberforce, Corrie Ten Boom, C. S. Lewis, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, they become my mentors. If you like biography and history, you’ll love the Bible. When you pick up God’s Word, you’re opening a collection of the best biographies ever written. Almost every page gives us examples of people whose lives were good, bad, ugly, damned, saved, transformed, inspired, revolting, or world changing. Sometimes these sketches are lengthy, such as the chapters about King David or the apostle Paul. Other times, a person’s life is summed up in a one-sentence biography, such as Paul’s descriptions of his various friends in Romans 16, or the occasional summaries appearing in the Bible’s various genealogical listings.

T – A Symbol of Identification, The Expressive Cross

In the first couple of centuries of Christian history, it wasn’t always safe to publicly identify oneself as a follower of Jesus. Though not mentioned in the New Testament, there is archeological and literary evidence for the use of a rough outline of a fish as a way of identifying one’s allegiance to Christ. Conveniently, the Greek word for fish— ἰχθύς in Greek letters, transliterated as ichthus in English letters—contains letters that create a meaningful Christian acrostic. That is, the letters i-ch-th-u-s form the first letter(s) in a significant word regarding Christ:

T

Elementary students know that T makes the “tuh” sound—just as people have known for thousands of years. We call that sound “tee” (T) but the ancient Hebrews called it “taw” (t), the Greeks called it “tau” (T), and Romans called it T as well. Our English T borrows its shape from the Roman (Latin) alphabet that so heavily influenced Europe. But the “tuh” sound wasn’t always represented so cleanly. In the beginning, alphabet letters were simple pictographs representing objects or ideas. For example, the first letter in the proto-Hebrew alphabet is aleph, originally the word for “ox.” So the letter for aleph was originally shaped like an ox head. The second letter, bet, was also the word for “house,” so the letter was shaped like a simple house. And the last letter—taw—was the word for “mark” and therefore had the shape of an X-shaped mark which gradually moved to an upright position like our modern plus sign: (+).

Shaping the Future

As I’m writing this article, 2020 is in our rear-view mirror but certainly not forgotten from our collective memory. The past year brought about an unprecedented amount of discord in our country and across the world: a contentious election cycle, the global COVID-19 pandemic, protests, and an economic recession. From man’s perspective the past year and our hopes for this year seem dim. But when I look at the sovereignty of God, I suddenly change from a pessimist to an optimist. The future isn’t doomed. We’re here today because God wants us to shape the future. His Word, His people, and His work can still impact today’s culture and shape tomorrow’s world. The best days are yet to come for Christ and His cause. Here’s how we can help SHAPE the future.

Finding and Fulfilling Your Mission

Many of the successful people and organizations in our world today have created and followed a mission statement. Mission statements say many things: who we are, what we believe, and what we want to accomplish. They become tracks to run on, roads to travel on, and destinations to reach. We hear the most about mission statements in the corporate world. Businesses, governmental agencies, and even churches take the time to define what they do, who they serve, and what makes them unique. The mission statement of Turning Point is: Delivering the unchanging Word of God to an ever-changing world. It clearly states the purpose and priorities of our ministry outreach.

Be Ye Kind

by David Jeremiah BYKOTA is an acronym sometimes used in our culture. It’s taken from Ephesians 4:32 (KJV): “Be ye kind one to another.” Perhaps it’s a sign that people are getting fed up with the nature of our cruel and critical age. In all our relationships and daily contacts, we have to make a conscious decision: Do we seethe as the world seethes, or do we see people as the Lord sees them?

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About Turning Point

Turning Point's Mission: Delivering the Unchanging Word of God to an Ever-Changing World

About Dr. David Jeremiah

Dr. David Jeremiah is the founder of Turning Point for God, an international broadcast ministry committed to providing Christians with sound Bible teaching through radio and television, the Internet, live events, and resource materials and books. He is the author of more than fifty books including The Book of Signs, Forward, and Where Do We Go From Here? David serves as senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in San Diego, California, where he resides with his wife, Donna. They have four grown children and twelve grandchildren.

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