I couldn't hesitate to add this one.
Think about this: What's the most exciting thing about your faith in Christ - to know Him, or just what He can do for you? This is a really good thought in this age of materialism, even within the church as far as the whole prosperity doctrine goes. I plan to write more about this subject in the future, but had to plug this one in for now.
Last night I was watching some public television and there was a show on called "Walking the Bible." Great documentary starring and narrated by a guy who's basically journeying through Egypt and the Middle East and tracking the events of the Bible as they happened with an added focus on geography. While discussing the subject of the promised land and the fact that Moses and many of the Israelites didn't get to see it, the host was in dialog with one of the locals and asked, "Isn't it sad that Moses never got to see the promised land?"
The response of the local was pure gold! He replied:
"No, because he got to see the face of God!"
I ask you, does it get any better than that!!!??? Now, we know that Moses didn't actually see God's face, but he did stand in His presence quite a bit (burning bush, Mt. Sinai, etc.). There was one event where Moses got as close as he could when the Lord let him see His glory after first hiding him in the cleft of the rock (Exodus 33:22, in verse 20 the Lord told Moses that he couldn't see His face and still live). Even though Moses himself disobeyed God and was refused to see the promised land (Number 20:10-13), I'm sure he would say that there is no better place to be than in the presence of God!
So what excites you more - the kingdom, or the KING???
GREETINGS!
The purpose of this blog is to share my passion for the truth of God and the truth of His Word. Sound or healthy doctrine can only be known and understood if the sovereignty and holiness of God is passionately pursued in order to know Him as He reveals Himself and then to make Him known in the same fashion. Or, better yet, a right view of God results in a right knowledge of His holy Word.
One of my goals is to attempt to stir up Christian unity among my kinsmen of the Faith. When the phrase "church division" is mentioned, the first thing many think of is that of racism or classism. While these are imporatant issues and will be addressed by yours truly, the more important form of unity/disunity among saints is that which pertains to doctrine. If the church of Jesus the Christ were more unified in how we understand Him and Scripture, then all other forms of disunity and discord would be quite minimal or nonexistent. It is my prayer that many of my kinsmen (of all races) would develop a healthy fear of God (or increase the one they already possess) and then begin to tread carefully through the Word in understanding the truth as He means and not what we want to get out of it.
Hermeneutics is the art and science of interpretation, specifically Biblical. We must gather a proper way to interpret and understand scripture that destroys our opinions and allows us to submit to the Author and know "the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10). We must not continue to "piecemeal" the Scriptures by bouncing around the pages, skipping over important elements and drawing quick conclusions that only give us limited knowledge, or worse, false knowledge that can give birth to false doctrine. The church (Greek "ecclesia" or called out ones) is supposed to be "the pillar and buttress (support) of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15) How can we be that when we are so divided on our Lord's one-true Word? How can we be a light to the world for truth when many of us are in the dark on what we believe?
Theology is not just for the pulpit. It is not just for clergy. It is for anyone who has received the righteousness of the Lord Jesus the Christ. We are to grow in His grace and not just be the recipients of it (2 Peter 3:15-18). This blog is theology in layman's terms!
Please be sure to read the articles from the earliest posts to the most recent as some of them are written in the form of a series.
One of my goals is to attempt to stir up Christian unity among my kinsmen of the Faith. When the phrase "church division" is mentioned, the first thing many think of is that of racism or classism. While these are imporatant issues and will be addressed by yours truly, the more important form of unity/disunity among saints is that which pertains to doctrine. If the church of Jesus the Christ were more unified in how we understand Him and Scripture, then all other forms of disunity and discord would be quite minimal or nonexistent. It is my prayer that many of my kinsmen (of all races) would develop a healthy fear of God (or increase the one they already possess) and then begin to tread carefully through the Word in understanding the truth as He means and not what we want to get out of it.
Hermeneutics is the art and science of interpretation, specifically Biblical. We must gather a proper way to interpret and understand scripture that destroys our opinions and allows us to submit to the Author and know "the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10). We must not continue to "piecemeal" the Scriptures by bouncing around the pages, skipping over important elements and drawing quick conclusions that only give us limited knowledge, or worse, false knowledge that can give birth to false doctrine. The church (Greek "ecclesia" or called out ones) is supposed to be "the pillar and buttress (support) of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15) How can we be that when we are so divided on our Lord's one-true Word? How can we be a light to the world for truth when many of us are in the dark on what we believe?
Theology is not just for the pulpit. It is not just for clergy. It is for anyone who has received the righteousness of the Lord Jesus the Christ. We are to grow in His grace and not just be the recipients of it (2 Peter 3:15-18). This blog is theology in layman's terms!
Please be sure to read the articles from the earliest posts to the most recent as some of them are written in the form of a series.
12.13.2006
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3 comments:
good comments. do you think people focus more on the kingdom than on the king these days? if so, in what ways?
Much of the focus is on "heaven on earth" or as one preacher put it: "I'm sick of hearing about streets of gold when I get to heaven...I want it now!" (my paraphrase) I have to admit I'm very hard on the charismatic/prosperity/name-it-and-claim-it/health & wealth teaching because it is so prevalent within the church. It so prevalent that many denominational congregations are making the shift from their traditions to these types of teachings because their goal is to feed the masses with what they want! The focus is mainly on felt-need doctrine rather than what the Word of God says!!! Some of us are so afraid to speak doctrinal truth that we don't want to "offend" anyone, so the best thing is to compromise and sugar-coat the truth and make it "acceptible" as fluff so that people "feel good" about coming to worship. There is more said of the kingdom and it's stuff (which is filled with a lot of unsound teaching) rather than complete focus on the truth of the KING and His sovereignty, goodness, holiness, righteousness, wrath, etc. Confessing Jesus as Lord and confessing sin brings conviction which doesn't necessarily feel good! What's good (as in righteous) is the actual act of confession with its humility and then the true feeling of goodness in knowing and growning in the grace of God!!!!! Thanks, r!
I really enjoy your blog. I wish you had more recent posts in this one. I found your blog because my blog is named openvessel4jc. I am glad that I did find it......keep up the faith.
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