A Witch With A Noble And Good Heart
(More Bible Studies Available @ www.marktabata.com)
To Receive These (And Other) Free Bible Studies And Updates Via Email, Contact Mark Tabata @ 606-216-1757 (Text Message) Or hazardhomecoc@gmail.com (Email)
Luke 8:15-But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
The two women were all that came out to Bible study in jail one day in 2020. I remember they snickered when they saw me, and I felt a twinge of uneasiness. As a Gospel preacher, I have dealt with my (more than) fair share of hecklers. But it never gets easier. The one lady was very direct, while her friend mainly sat back and watched to see how things played out. Here is how the conversation started:
Lisa (not her real name): You aren’t gonna like me, honey.
Mark: I already do. Why do you think I wouldn’t?
Lisa: I’m a witch, I don’t believe in your God, and I believe that Bible you are carrying is a Book of fairy tales.
Mark: Sweet. Then that’s where we’ll start.
Lisa had been raised in a moderately Christian home, and then started dating a young man who worshiped the Norse gods and goddesses. She had bought into the increasingly popular lie that the Bible is a Book created by nomad shepherds who wandered in the deserts, getting high on peyote and writing down mad scribblings that then became canonized by ignorant savages who called it the Word of God.
No, really, I’m not making this up: those are some of the common ideas non-Christians have about God and His Word in our day and age.
So, that’s where we started.
Three hours later, we were going over a Keynote presentation I had put together on evidences that the Bible is God’s Word, with a section demonstrating examples of how archaeology continually confirms the historicity of the Scriptures.
Here is an example of some of the evidence from that Keynote:
“It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference.—Rabbi Dr. Nelson Glueck The man who delivered the above statement was among the most respected of his century. He was close to many Israeli statesmen, including David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, and Abba Eban, and for twenty-four years he was president of Hebrew Union College. In 1961 he delivered the benediction at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration, and in 1963 he was featured on the cover of Time. But Rabbi Glueck was most famous for his pioneering work in the field of biblical archaeology. When one considers that he was more on the theologically liberal end of the spectrum, his statement is the more remarkable. It continued: “Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible.” When someone like Glueck says something as strong as “it may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery”—ever—has pointed away from the veracity of the Bible, it’s hard not to take notice. It’s also hard not to wonder whether the book that some think of as a cobbled-together compendium of ancient folktales—most of which are half-remembered and get many details wrong, even if there is some fundamental truth to them—is in fact the inerrant Word of God. How else can we understand Glueck’s fantastic assertion that all of the archaeological discoveries confirm what the ancient scriptures say?… The track record of biblical archaeology baffled—and continues to baffle—those convinced that archaeology must eventually contradict the biblical accounts. One of these is James Agresti, an aerospace engineer who in his book Rational Conclusions describes being a twenty-five-year-old atheist determined to study the Bible to document its errors. But what he encountered surprised him, and by the time he was finished, he was instead persuaded of its truth. But one of the main reasons for his about-face was what he learned about the archaeological record. Echoing Rabbi Glueck, Agresti concluded: “I have yet to encounter archaeological evidence that shows any part of the Bible to be inaccurate.””(Eric Metaxas, Is Atheism Dead? 119-120 (Kindle Edition): Washington D.C.: Salem Books)
She cried as she told her friend, “I am starting to have faith! This is real!”
What a joy it was to baptize Lisa into Christ the next day. (We would have baptized her that day like the Bible documents in such passages as Acts 2:41; 8:11-12; 16:30-33, but the jail had a scheduling conflict that evening).
Take aways from all this?
First: the Bible truly is God’s Word. The evidence continually documents this.
Second: a lot of people simply don’t know the truth, and have been led astray by deceiving spirits.
1 Timothy 4:1-Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
Lisa had spent several years of her young life in jail, and made it a point to go to church services in chapel. In all of that time, she told me she had never heard any logical reasons and proofs of why the Christian faith is true. That’s a rebuke for us, brothers and sisters in Christ! We need to do a better job to meet these lost souls with good answers and ultimately the Good News!
1 Peter 3:15-But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
Acts 19:19-20-Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.
Let’s not run in fear from these precious lost souls: let’s run to them in Christian love!
Father, thank You for Lisa and her good and noble heart. Wherever she is today, please bless her. And bless others who have also not learned and obeyed the truth. Guide us to them and help us to be the light of Jesus in the darkness for them. In His Name, Amen.