Category:

Dangerous ISM's - Catechism

8/20/2013

CATECHISM - A BOOK CONTAINING A SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPLES OF A RELIGION, IN THE FORM OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
Unless I am mistaken, there is a book that contains the principles of Christianity. Last I knew it was called the New Testament, and had references to prophecies in the Old Testament as well as the teachings of Christ and the Apostles. I would hope that we would all study the scriptures in order to answer any questions we have. (1 Pet 3:15) “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” One of the problems with a system like a catechism is that those involved are not encouraged to study the Word for themselves, in fact, in many instances they are told not to or that there is no need. ‘Why study when you have all the answers right here?’ They don’t think about the fact that the Bible is inspired of God and a catechism is written by fallible men. Even if I had a book that gave me a pat answer for all these questions, and I had memorized the answers, I would still not have an understanding of why that was the answer.

How many religious people believe what they believe for the following reasons:

1) My parents told me that was the way it was - What if your parents were wrong?
2) The ‘pastor’ told me - What if the ‘pastor’ was taught the wrong thing?
3) I read it in a book - What if the author was mistaken?
4) That is what my church teaches - What if the church isn’t founded by and on Christ and his teachings as it should be?

The problem with all of these and many other reasons for us believing something is that we are depending on someone else to get us to Heaven. (Phil 2:12) “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” You see we alone are responsible for what we believe. Our salvation is far too important for us to leave it to someone else. I am taking my car to the shop on Friday to have it worked on, I have to go to the dentist to get my teeth taken care of, I had to study books to learn to read and write and do math, but I better not go to anyone besides Jesus to find salvation.

Here is an answer that is much better than the others. I believe it because the Bible teaches it in such and such book, chapter, and verse. Let us all strive to have a biblical answer for what we do, believe and teach.

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Dangerous ISM's - Astigmatism

4/17/2013

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ASTIGMATISM - A DEFECT IN THE EYE THAT CAUSES LINES IN SOME DIRECTIONS TO BE FOCUSED LESS SHARPLY THAN LINES IN OTHER DIRECTIONS.

In case you are wondering as I was, there is another word that is along similar lines ‘stigmatism’ but is not the same as astigmatism. (I never knew they were two different words.) Anyway, I had opportunity to be at the eye-doctor last Friday and found that I had missed this word. Maybe I just couldn’t read it because of my astigmatism. But, I digress.

There are many lines that must be drawn in the religious world and in the church, unfortunately, sometimes we don’t see those lines very clearly. The reason usually is that we have a defect that is interfering with our spiritual vision. The defect could be any of the following and possibly you can think of others: ignorance, misinterpretation, learning from false teachers, love of the world, love of money, or lack of resolve. Many of the lines that God has drawn; and that we must duplicate in order to please him, seem somewhat insignificant to human wisdom and that to can interfere with our ability to see sharply and clearly what God has drawn.

When I was with the doctor he had me read, or at least try to read a chart of letters and numbers. As a result of my vision problems (in case you didn’t know, I have had glasses for all of my adult life), there were times that I couldn’t make out the letters. I would say, “That is either a ‘G’, a ‘Q’, or an ‘O’. Wait maybe it is a ‘C’.” It was tough. It took several minutes and several lenses before finally, I could see everything clearly. James likened the Word of God to a mirror that reflects the truth to us, but some people don’t ever look in the mirror, some just ignore what they see, some glance at it every once in a while, and others distort the mirror to their liking. If we want everything to come into focus we have to look deeply into that perfect law of liberty, and whether we like it or not, change ourselves for the perfection of God.

God has drawn some lines for salvation, some for worship, some for service of our fellow man, and some for constructing the church. There are some areas where he has even given authority to the elders of the church to draw some lines, and to husbands and parents to use their judgment to draw others. Where we are free to draw our own lines we need to apply any biblical principles that fit. Where others have the authority to draw lines, we need to respect their authority, and in the areas God has drawn lines no one else can change them. We need to continuously study God’s Word in order to have clear vision. We also need to remove any other devotions that are keeping us from reading God’s lines.

The Bible teaches that baptism is essential to salvation, but sometimes we are tempted to try to blur that line when our loved ones have not obeyed the gospel. God hates divorce, but when we are the ones involved we want to put what we want before the oath we took ‘to death do us part’. We may make any number of excuses for crossing God’s lines, but none of them make it acceptable.

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QITB - WHAT DOTH HINDER ME TO BE BAPTIZED? - ACTS 8:36

3/6/2013

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What an odd question to ask. Acts chapter 8 is one of the richest chapters in the entire Bible. It contains so much teaching on so many topics that I could probably write an article a week for a year just on this chapter. But for now let’s just look at this question asked by the Ethiopian eunuch. Acts 8:36 reads, "And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?" The answer Philip gives is in the next verse, but let’s look at a few other things before we get to that.

First, let’s consider the kind of response this question might get today. Some preachers would simply say, “There is no point in being baptized.” Others would say, “You don’t want to be baptized in water, but in the Holy Ghost. Still others would say, “You can, but you have to wait for baptizing Sunday.” There might even be some who would say, “If you want to get baptized you need to go to another church, we don’t allow your kind in our church.” Then, there would be some who would say, “We will have to wait for the church to vote on you.” You can probably imagine some other responses this question would get from our mixed up religious world today. None of these answers were the ones Philip gave. We’ll get to it in a minute.

Second, let’s look back to see what caused the eunuch to ask such an interesting question. How did he know what baptism was? How did he know water was necessary? Wasn’t the water bottle he had for drinking on a long journey enough? Why would he make mention of another water source? If we look back a few verses and use some reasoning, we can answer these questions.

In Acts 8:32-35 we read, "The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: {33} In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. {34} And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? {35} Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus." Notice that Philip preached ‘Jesus’. We don’t know how long he preached, but it was long enough to tell the eunuch all about who Jesus was, how He had lived, what He had taught, how and why He had died, how He rose again, what instructions He left for His disciples, and how He had returned to Heaven. That could take a good while. But, why did the eunuch respond to all of this teaching about Jesus by asking about being baptized? There is only one logical explanation that fits with the text. Somewhere in Philip’s sermon about Jesus baptism had been taught, and with enough emphasis that the eunuch felt compelled to have this done to him. He also understood that the baptism he needed was not the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but baptism in water. Holy Spirit baptism was special and Philip may well have taught the eunuch about it, certainly he would have taught about the Spirit beginning with the virgin conception and birth; but which one did the eunuch understand was for him? Water baptism.

As for the amount of water and the necessity of water, that also must have been included given the response the eunuch has and the action in verses 37-38. The Greek word for baptize (baptizo) literally means “to make fully wet, to cover in a liquid, or to dip” according to Strong’s Greek Dictionary in the back of the Strong’s Concordance. Given this understanding of the word it no longer seems surprising that the eunuch knew he needed water and a large amount of it. Oh, if only translators had accurately translated how much less confusion there could be today.

Now let’s look at Philip’s answer. The question implies that the eunuch is not sure if he meets all of the qualifications. ‘Hinder’ indicates there may be something holding him back. Is there something else he must do first: some fee to pay, some committee to go before, or some religious experience? No, Philip simply says, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest" (verse 37). He already knew what he had to believe from the preaching he had just heard. The eunuch did, so, they got out and went down into the water and Philip baptized him (verse 38). They did it right then and there with no delay. The eunuch went home rejoicing (verse 39). And why shouldn’t he? He had found the truth and obeyed what he had been taught: he was saved. Sounds just like what Jesus said in Mark 16:16, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." The eunuch believed and was baptized, and I hope to meet him in Heaven.

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One Thing Is Needed

2/2/2013

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Happy New Year! How about those new year’s resolutions? Are you going to do it this year? Are you ruined already and waiting to try again next time? It seems everyone makes resolutions for the new year whether they make a big fuss over it or not. And, it seems that everyone breaks them by the second week of the year. Maybe we set our goals too high, perhaps our confidence is too low, could be we make too many resolutions to keep, but whatever the reason the breaking of new year’s resolutions is as much of a tradition as the making of them.

Why not do it different this year? I mean let’s face it we haven’t exactly got a great success record with the current plan, and since we can’t fire ourselves or trade ourselves to another team, why not a new plan? Funny, I can’t think of a good reason to keep making the same mistakes over and over again either.

A plan has to be simple to be truly effective and so my new plan is. Of course you don’t have to follow it, but you are certainly free to try it if you would like. So, here it is: ONLY ONE THING IS NEEDED. Now, most of us have long lists of hopes and dreams for the new year, and some of it is well outside the realm of reality. But, if we could just do one thing in 2013 (yes, just ONE thing), then about 330 days (We are already into February) seems like enough time to do it or at least to get a good start on it.

So, what is the 1 thing? Look at this short section of Luke 10:38-42 "Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. {39} And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. {40} But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. {41} And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: {42} But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

Did you see it? I bet you did, but just to make sure I’ll repeat it. Martha was a lot like all of us. She had a dozen irons in the fire: a load of clothes in the wash, dinner cooking, a full-time job, a part-time job, a house to clean, guests to serve, etc. We don’t know what all here worries were, but we can be sure that the 21st century has not been the only one with busy people. Jesus said that she was “troubled about many things” translated to our time, she was ‘stressed out’. Jesus is concerned about this condition which among other things is not healthy. In verse 42 Jesus tells us that Mary has chosen something that will not be taken away from her, and that is the ‘one thing’ that is needed. All of the things that Martha was concerned about were temporary and unnecessary.

What had Mary chosen? What does the scripture say? Verse 39 says that Mary “sat at Jesus’ feet” (she was spending time with him), and “heard his word” (she was listening to him). Now, Jesus said one thing was needful, so, let’s put this together into one thing. Mary was spending time listening to Jesus. Look at the contrast between these two sisters. Jesus, the Son of God, the Creator of the Universe was in their home and Martha was missing out. Mary knew the dishes could be washed after Jesus was gone. Maybe Martha thought that she could impress Jesus if she fixed an incredible meal, we don’t know what she was thinking. Whatever it was she was wrong. The only thing she really needed to be doing she was neglecting.

We seem to be determined to make everything more complicated than it should be. This year get back to the simple satisfying life of spending time listening to Jesus. If we would the noises in the world around us would grow dimmer, and the voice of the savior clearer. Since Jesus isn’t here on earth as he was, we can’t sit at his feet as Mary did and as Martha should have. We must hear his voice calling through the inspiration of the Bible. As a preacher of the Gospel, my task is to preach the Word of God, and I try to do that whenever I preach and even through articles like this one. I’m sure my voice is not as pleasant to listen to as Christ’s, but I invite you all to come and hear that though the voice is not the same the teaching is.

May we all seek to put God first this year and to spend time listening to those things He has spoken to us through his son. Hebrews 1:1-4

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Why Do You Read the Bible?

1/17/2013

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You may have noticed that not everyone thinks about the Bible in the same way. Because of that not everyone reads the Bible for the same reasons. The reason we read the Bible will affect the way we read it and the results we get. Think about why you read the Bible and ask yourself if you are getting the most you could be getting out of it.
Some read the Bible to find fault with it. They don’t believe the Bible is from God and are looking for mistakes. Others read the Bible just so they can say they read it. These don’t try to understand what it means their goal is to get through it as fast as they can. Another group reads and rereads the same few sections over and over because those verses or chapters are their favorites or it comforts them. This group will never get the full benefit of the scriptures. They are like a person standing in front of an enormous elaborate mural and examining in detail one square foot. Mat. 21:42 tells of some like this.
There is also that person who goes to the Bible to try to prove some point that they believe. This person will often ignore any verses that they cannot twist to mean what they want to prove. The Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ day were like this (Mat. 22:29, John 5:39). Next time we will consider why people should read the Bible.

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What is the Bible?

5/21/2011

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THE BIBLE IS NOT:             BUT IT CONTAINS ACCURATE:
A History Book                         History
A Biology Book                          Biology
A Geography Book                   Geography
A Physics Book                          Physics
A Math Book                               Mathematics
A Grammar Book                      Grammar
A Psychology Book                  Psychology
A Man’s Biography                   Life Accounts
A Medical Textbook                 Medical Information
A Military Tactics Book          Military Tactics
A Philosophy Book                   Philosophies
A Storybook                                Compelling Stories
A Poetry Book                             Poems and Songs
A Geology Book                          Geological Events
An Economy Book                     Financial Advice
A Political Science Text           Governing Concepts
A Sociology Book                        Healthy Society Rules
A Health Book                              Health Benefits
A Joke Book                                  Humorous Events
An Architectural Text              Building Plans
Constantly Updated                  Up-to-date Information
Continually Changing               Ideas for a Changing World
A Logic Book                                Irrefutable Logic
A Love Letter                               Expressions of God’s Love
A Parenting Manual                   Parenting Principles
A Marriage Manual                    Marital Standards

    Just think about a single book that has all of that in it even though that wasn't the primary reason it was written. 2 Peter 1:3 says, "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:" This verse does not mean that God has given us every detail of physical life (He does not give us a list of all the poisonous plants or tell us that we can drown if breathe under water or die if we fall off a cliff.), rather that we have everything we need spiritually to live a life pleasing to Him.
    Even though the Bible never specifically says precisely what it is, we can know from reading it that it is in essence God's Autobiography chronicling His creation of mankind and His dealings with that creature. It is not intended to be a full autobiography of God's existence because it only begins when God begins the creation process. It also concludes once God has completed His perfect plan to redeem mankind and restore the relationship that He once had with humanity when He walked and talked with them in the Garden of Eden. In the Bible we get a small glimpse into the life of God, but more importantly we learn what He wants us to do to please Him. I challenge you as you read your Bible to ask two questions with every verse, sentence, paragraph, and chapter that you read. 1) What can I learn about God from this section? and 2) What does this passage tell me about how I can please God better?
    As we continue to look at the Bible we see that it is THE WORD OF GOD according to 2 Timothy 3:14-17 "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; {15} And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. {16} All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: {17} That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."
    We learn several things about the words God breathed in this section here are a few:
        1. CALLED SCRIPTURES AND HOLY - V. 15,16
        2. CAN BE LEARNED AND KNOWN - V. 14, 15
        3. ABLE TO MAKE WISE - V. 15
        4. ABLE TO SAVE THROUGH FAITH - V. 15
        5. GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD - V. 16
        6. PROFITABLE FOR DOCTRINE - V. 16 (TEACHING)
        7. PROFITABLE FOR REPROOF - V. 16 (POINTING OUT ERROR OR SIN)
        8. PROFITABLE FOR CORRECTION - V. 16(POINTING OUT HOW TO CORRECT THE ERRORS OR SINS)
        9. PROFITABLE FOR INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS - V. 16 (CHRISTIAN LIVING)
        10. WILL MAKE US COMPLETE (PERFECT)
        11. WILL THOROUGHLY FURNISH FOR ALL GOOD WORKS (IF WE CAN'T LEARN ABOUT IT IN THE BIBLE IT IS NOT ONE OF THE GOOD THINGS GOD EXPECTS US TO DO, THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT EVERYTHING THE BIBLE DOES NOT SPEAK OF IS SINFUL.)
What other things can you see in those scriptures? Remember the two questions to ask yourself.
    Some of the other things that we learn about these words that God wanted written down are that they are:
        1. PERFECT - James 1:25 "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." and Psalms 19:7 "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple."
        2. TRUTH - Psalms 119:151 "Thou art near, O Lord; and all thy commandments are truth." and John 17:17 "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."
        3. EVERLASTING - Psalms 119:152 "Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever." and Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."
        4. THE SOURCE OF FAITH - Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
What other things does the Bible say about itself and the words that are written in it?

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Dangerous ISM's - Catechism

Dangerous ISM's - Astigmatism

QITB - WHAT DOTH HINDER ME TO BE BAPTIZED? - ACTS 8:36

One Thing Is Needed

Why Do You Read the Bible?

What is the Bible?

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