This Sunday is Palm Sunday, the day we remember the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The crowd excitedly welcomed him because they hoped he was a king like the rulers of man. But Jesus was not coming to Jerusalem to topple Rome; He was coming to destroy death. He was not arriving to respond to political grievances but to satisfy the wrath of God. He was not coming to comfort us with platitudes but to confront our sin on the cross with His own body and blood.

The Bibles on my shelves tell in part the story of my personal walk with the Lord. There is the 3-inch thick Parallel Bible with four translations that I used through high school. Then there is the well-worn, duct taped spine, two-inch-thick Bible I used throughout most of college. I do not know why I opted for such big Bibles back then. Next to this Bible is the much thinner (Ultrathin Reference Edition) Bible I used for some of my college years and into my seminary days. It does not have as much duct tape applied, but it is all the same, held together, both on the outside and the inside, with applications of tape. Duct tape is the poor man’s rebinding. In all three of these Bibles are margin notes that reference particular times when God was moving in my life. In all three there are highlighted scripture verses that God has used to comfort, convict, and challenge me. And all three hold a special place in my heart because they were a significant part of my life in their respective seasons.

With each of these Bibles, I set them aside and began to use the next one because I preferred to use a different size or typeset. Or, in the case of the last two, they were becoming so worn, with pages falling out. Time and wear had limited their ability to keep up with the rigors of accompanying me through life and ministry.

There is a part of me that is sad to acknowledge the dearth of biblical literacy today. Biblical literacy has historically influenced our politics, public speech, education, poetry, and music. Without a general knowledge of the Bible, much of the writings of previous generations will not be fully understood. Phrases like “let justice roll down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream” in Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech lose their authority and power when they are divorced from the prophet Amos and become just another line in a great speech. Without an awareness of biblical themes, the opening words of the Gettysburg address just seem like a strange way to reference time.

Finding the right church is not easy. Unfortunately, too many see this as a consumer driven process rather than a spiritual act of obedience. Few go beyond the superficial of music style of the services or speaking ability of the pastor. In an interview for The Blue Mountain Review my fiend Clifford Brooks asked me how someone should go about finding a church. My response was five suggestions that I think are critical to making this decision.

You can test the water but—at some point—you must jump in. I appreciate that many come with questions and want to investigate the gospel first, but faith comes not by proximity but by intentionality. The claims of scripture are radical. The Bible teaches that God created everything; God demands righteousness; Jesus is the eternal God who came in the flesh; that he was born of a virgin; that He lived among us without sin; that He died as a sacrifice for our sin so that we might be saved; that Jesus physically died and was buried; and that He physically rose from the dead and ascended to heaven. You can investigate these claims. You can read the biblical witness of these claims. You can ponder and think on these things but, again—at some point—you must choose to believe or reject the testimony of scripture. It is an all or nothing proposition.

The New Testament church was not persecuted because the world they lived in was anti-religion. They were persecuted because the gospel they preached was exclusive. The Romans who so viciously mistreated the early Christians were not opposed to adding a new god to the list but would not stand for the testimony of Jesus claiming to be the one true God and the only way to heaven. That same dynamic is true today. Our culture loves religion as long as that religion makes no absolute truth claims. And that is the problem with Christianity – it makes absolute truth claims.