about the Word of God...

[Slater]

Today, I watched a video on eBaum's World that made me pretty mad. It's an episode of Pen and Teller's show (the name of which I can't say on CAA) that attempted (and failed) to disprove the Bible. However, that didn't tick me off as much as one of the points they made, because the point they made is true and it shouldn't be. Repeatedly these pagan blasphemers stated that Christians pick and choose what parts of the Bible to believe and follow and which parts not to. They pointed out, validly, that this goes completely against the Christian faith is all about. But we still do it. I say "we" and "our" because such a huge portion of the "Christian" population does it that it looks like the entire Body of Christ "picks and chooses" what parts of the Bible to follow and what parts to throw out the window!

This is horrible, guys and gals. I didn't realize till today that this problem was so far widespread until today. Because of "our" inability to treat the Word of God the way God commands us to treat it, the enemies of God in this world are able to slap us (all Christians) in the face with our own hands! It's a disgrace: a complete and utter disgrace. We, to them, appear as nothing but the world's worst case of hypocracy.

I don't know... maybe this is more of a rant than anything else. But... I want to challenge you all. When you sit down with your Bible, do you see God's Word commuicated to you, or do you just see a bunch of moral recommendations that are good to follow but without reason? Do you see examples of how to live for God and how not to live, or do you see just a bunch of stories? Do you see an explanation of why humans are sinful and fallen and how God can restore our live, or do you see just a bunch of myths that were written by Hebrew religious leaders a few thousand years ago? If you see the Bible as nothing more than a book of rules, stories, and myths, then I will not lie to you... it is because of you that Christians today have such a bad name to the unsaved, and this video is pure, undeniable proof of that. It is because of those ideas that those fools can slander the good Name of Jesus in such a way and laugh at it.

Read the Bible and understand that it is not what the world makes it out to be... Jesus' miracles were not some mere illusions perfomed for people looking for an entertaining side-show, but where manifestations of how he loves His creation. The parting of the Red Sea was not just the crossing of some dried-up marsh, but a manifestation of the unstoppable power of the Most High Living God. The Bible is not penned by godly men, but authored by God Himself.

We can turn the world's view of Christians arround. If we can learn to have a full respect for the Word of God, learn what it really is and what it isn't, and learn how it was made to impact our lives, then we can provide the world with a better view of what being a Christian really is all about.

[SonicRose]

The First thing Dad told me when he was saved was this; "The Ten Commandments are not multiple choice."

[meboeck]

I have noticed this a lot, and I think we have all been guilty at times of trying to twist the bible into what we want it to say. Thanks for the very good reminder, Slater. I honestly think this is something all Christians should be praying about.

[Kaligraphic]

Christians have a bad reputation because they (many of them) follow a collection of traditions and superstitions about a book, instead of listening to its author.

It's not "whoever is led by traditions about God", or "whoever is led by the book of God", but rather "whoever is led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Romans 8:14)

[Slater]

you guys are both right. I'm sure there have been times when I've twisted the Word of God around to fit my wants... Maybe not openly, but in my heart, just so I wouldn't feel bad about doing something...
And as for traditions, I don't have any experiance there since none of my family was saved before my mom and dad got married. But I do see it happening with some of my friends.

[Kaligraphic]

Everything you've ever been told in your life can slip a tradition into your understanding - it doesn't have to come from the church. You don't have to be a Christian to be inundated with wrong ideas about God - other people's ideas about God that they heard from yet other people.

The only thing to do is to know God from experience, first-hand.

Christianity is not a moral walk. It is not a walk of "do this, don't do that." It is a walk of friendship and love, not with a book, not with words that others have said, but with an actual being, with actual thoughts and actual opinions.

Far too many of us worship the book, and far too few walk with the author. I know that when I really started spending time actually with God, not just with a pile of pages, I started noticing preconceptions that I never even knew I had. Traditions that I had never noticed before. Ideas that I hadn't even known were in my head.

Sometimes God does stuff just to blow your mind.

He's actually a lot cooler than we give him credit for being. He'll tell you about stuff that is so outside of what you'd expect, that you unconsciously don't even think he knows about it, really. But he does.

Oh, and he probably disagrees with about 100% of your opinions, but he's always right.

[Nate]

I agree with Kaligraphic. While the Bible is important, since it reveals God to us, it should not be the main focus of our lives...GOD must be the main focus of our lives.

There are a few atheists that study the Bible to great extent. While they are doing it for a different purpose than we are, it is proof that simply reading and knowing the Bible is not enough. We must know GOD, first and foremost. The Bible is secondary to Him.