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"Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 1:3).

Many of you have seen "Bulletin Bloopers": actual typos or messages with unintended meanings from church bulletins (a list follows the footers of this devotional).  For instance, one bulletin had this announcement: "The Pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday morning". (I am pretty sure the word should be "griddles"!)

Well, we find these bloopers humorous and have observed a few myself that I've never seen published. Bloopers can also be seen on church signs. Funny, but very sad, was the church sign we saw years ago on the way to Buffalo, New York that announced "Holy Ghost Bingo" (the name of the church happened to be Holy Ghost Roman Catholic). Amazing that someone didn't realize how sacrilegious that message sounded.

I asked Brooksyne if she could recall any bulletin bloopers from our years of pastoral ministry and she responded, "You always had good secretaries". To this day I am thankful for Sherry, who served as our secretary in the church I pastored in northern PA for many years and Veda, now with the Lord, was secretary in the church we served in New England. Both were excellent in their skills and dedicated in their service. Still we probably had some but none that I remember were as funny we share with you today.

But bloopers or messages with unintended meanings aren't only in bulletins. When we lived in New England our local paper had a headline on the sport's page, "New Testament Comes Up Short". Turns out it wasn't an attack on the Christian Bible; it just happens that a local Christian school was named "New Testament Christian" and their basketball team had lost. The headline the sportswriter used most certainly not intending the double-entendre and I really doubt if too many readers noticed any irony in the headline being familiar with the local school's name.

During the Easter season especially national magazines and news shows regularly convey the message that the New Testament and the rest of the Bible comes up short, that is being deficient. "Scholars" will be quoted who claim they have rediscovered the "real" Jesus who is entirely different than the Jesus of the New Testament or otherwise cast doubt on the traditional understanding of Scriptures. They fulfill a prophecy in the Bible that states "in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires" (2 Peter 3:3).

Years ago a frequently cited "scholarship" was the "Jesus Seminar", a group of radical deconstructionists who were out of even the theological liberal mainstream.  Suffice it to say they did not "contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 1:3).

One of our favorite professors in Bible College was Dr. Charles Harris who stressed the need for sound Biblical exposition and drilled it into his students. He was a real contender for the faith.

The ongoing mission for the earnest believer in every age is to wholeheartedly "contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted". This is especially true for ministers of the Gospel, but is also incumbent upon each lay person as well. An interesting Greek word found only once in the entire New Testament translates "contend" in this passage. "Epagonizomai" literally means, "to struggle for".  Do you see our English word "agonize" in it? The Amplified Bible states, "fight strenuously for [the defense of] the faith".

Today we all will have opportunities in various ways to "contend" for the faith. Let us be faithful to this call!

Be encouraged today! Hebrews 3:13

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