Buy The Truth

I know, and you do too, that You Tube is a terrible place to learn theology.  Everyone is an expert, and no one knows anything. All you get are crazy AI generated ideas based on God knows what. One red flag is when you find a theologian who spend more time talking about what the author meant and his context in his world. What was going on around him that he saw truth in this perspective. In claiming to be wise they reveal themselves as fools.

Let's reaffirm what the Bible has to say about this.

"holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." 2Pet.1:21

The Bible contains God's word. It is God's self-revelation of Himself. It is not the writings of men compiled into one volume. It is in truth the word of God. 

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." 2Tim.3:16

The task of every person  is to read and understand the Bible. To pay the price for truth.

"Buy the truth and do not sell it" Prov.23:23

When you hear a sermon that moves you to action or when you get revelation from scripture, you are dealing with men who have paid a price to understand truth.

I find that familiarity breeds contempt. When you get bored with the Bible you begin to look for new ideas. You try to understand the person who God used to speak rather than God and His word. The Bible is not about Moses or David or Paul. It's about God.

The secret to staying on track is gratitude. Being grateful for the Bible as it is. Being grateful to God for what He has done. Gratitude is the antidote to boredom.

God Is Alive And Active

Dr. Michael Heiser wrote a book called The Unseen Realm. In it he makes the argument for a new way of putting the supernatural back into the Bible. He advocates for letting God be God in the pages of Scripture. 

Unfortunately, he does not seem to put the supernatural back into the Christian life. He never talks about divine healing or the gifts of the Spirit. He does not advocate speaking in tongues. There is no deliverance from demonic oppression in the real world. It is good that Dr. Heiser puts God back in the pages of the Bible. But the youngest member of our church is more aware of the supernatural working of the Holy Spirit than the wisest theologian.

To many God the Holy Spirit is a doctrine that they adhere to but not a real active working presence in the world today.

All must be born again. All can speak in tongues. We can see the sick healed and the adicted delivered. We can extract miracle money from unexpected sources. God is present and active, an ever present help in time of need. He is not just a doctrine.

The Missing Crisis

 Some declare that we have a population crisis world-wide. We are not having enough children to replace ourselves. This is a strange argument. One thing that population experts never talk about is marriage. If people are not getting married then it is obvious why they are not having children. But marriage is God's idea so they act like it doesn't matter to avoid giving God any credit. One other issue is how there are things that only happen on paper or in the lab that never happen or work in the real world. It is never as dire or as dark as some experts would have us believe.

As a local church we stand for truth and for light in a world darkened by sin. We give the world an example of how to live. We provide a place where needy people can connect with a God who is accessible. We are a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. We are a light and a beacon to a lost world. We show how to be selfless and giving and married.

Do not be discouraged by experts who live in a bubble of probability with no connection to the real world.

Speaking of marriage. We need our children to leave the lies of feminism and get married and start families. University is no substitute for a nuclear family. My biggest regret in life is only having two children. Now that I am older I wish we had had more.

Changing Seats

 I dreamed an interesting dream. I dreamt that I was at a conference in Prescott. Pastor Mitchell was leading the service. It was a full house with people in every seat. Before the service officially began pastor Mitchell came to the pulpit and made an interesting announcement.

I want everyone sitting in the front row to trade places with the people sitting on the back row. Then I want everyone on the left side to trade places with the people on the right side. It took a while to happen but finally everyone was sitting in their new place.

What was interesting to me was how some people were happy and excited to trade places, but others were sullen and morose. People get so attached to their seat. Woe to any visitor who dares to sit in their place.

Would a pastor actually have people change seats like this? I have seen it and you probably have too.

"Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief." Mat.13:58

When we focus more on where we sit than on why we're there we run the risk of not seeing God work among us.

Anyway, it was just a dream.

Sunday Night Musings

 We had a young man preach for us tonight. He is from here, but not our church. Pastor met him overseas and felt inspired to have him come preach for us. He did a good job. He is another guy who went overseas directly with no pastoral experience. He is doing a good job where he is.

I see a trend in that if I am going to get anything our of a church service, I will have to learn to get something from a younger man. The pool of seasoned pastors is getting thinner by the year.

Evidently sending a couple overseas right off is a trend to watch.

I hope that this young man inspired some of our young men who seem hesitant to announce themselves as interested in getting sent out.

We do not need more information or even education. We need men who have their own personal relationship with God and who are inspired to do something great for God.

Pray that we will have a great Boot Camp. It is less boot camp and it is becoming more like conference camp for teenagers.

I am grateful that I was mentioned in Prescott tonight. I fell so insignificant sometimes. To think that pastor Greg would mention Kathy and I was humbling.

Thank you all for visiting.

The Bible Is Not A Science Book

 One reason why it is nearly impossible to examine the bible using scientific methods is that the Bible is not a science book. Unlike a story which flows from beginning to climax and ultimately to conclusion, the Bible jumps around in time and does not always follow to a logical conclusion. Every verse is important, but sometimes it is hard to connect them together.

What do Young Earth, Gap Theory, and Day/Age creationists all have in common? They all believe that in the beginning God created everything out of nothing. And they are all rabid anti-evolutionists. Being against something that you do not understand does not make you spiritual or smart.

There were Nephilim before and after the Flood. If the flood was to destroy evil people, how did these creatures survive? Nephilim are the offspring of angelic sex with human women. A local rather than a world-wide flood would make this possible. Nephilim were very smart as well as very big. A few could have survived a regional flood event.

Evolution is anathema to Bible believing Christians. But it does explain some things that the Bible does not explain at all.

The earth in Genesis 1:2 was shapeless and empty. What was it? A watery mass, A sphere of liquid water in frozen outer space? The Bible is not a science book at all. 

One day hopefully we will understand all the mysteries of the Biblical narrative. 

Religious But Not Born Again?

 I have two friends who call themselves Christians and both of them really struggle with their faith. One is always concerned about losing his faith so that he works hard to please the Lord with his good works. The other is so confused and full of ridiculous questions as to be tiresome to listen to. I have rest in my faith. I was born again in 1973. The power of a changed life is still with me to this very day. I do not struggle to understand. I do not waste time trying to intellectually understand it all. I do not feel compelled to work so that God will be impressed enough to let me in. Neither am I presumptuous thinking that I can live how I choose and that Heaven will be awaiting me anyway.

The Christian faith is a hard road to walk on if you are doing it all by human will and human strength. The finished work of Christ is enough. If anyone is in Christ they are new creations. Born again means something. Maybe my friends are very religious but have never been born again.