Communication?? and words A-Z (part 2)

I'm just selecting words at random, that come to mind. I don't have the time here to go in depth on each word.

But these words have no meaning anymore to Christians and if you think God is ok with an unrepentant homosexual in your church,then you are prove that words have lost there meaning.

Keep in mind here, the   main reason, when it comes to the church, that words lose there meaning is simply :


John 5:39
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,


Random words from A to Z that have been changed to accommodate a seeker friendly atmosphere in the visible church.

- Anointing - this word should thrill the believer but instead, confuses many. Some think this is outside there conversion to Christ and I suppose if believers think they are missing something someone else has , and they are constantly asked if they want this, this will keep them coming back week after week , till they get.. what they already have. Also might wanna look up Who the Anointed One is btw.
-blessings - use caution when this word is taught from Old Testament verses and the curses fail to get mentioned. Passages that are descriptive are not always prescriptive. But that's not how churches present it. Scripture always has ONE interpretation and it will ALWAYS be Jesus ,but  there are many applications . Best to use caution when reading.
-curses - these never get read, unless a church wants the hearer to sense guilt. Now if that guilt is understood that it's God we've offended, ok but the gospel better be close behind but many times that's a sub point. Besides,  If these curses  were read correctly,  the believer  would become wise to us no longer being under them.
-deeds - this word gets confused with works, and is separated from rewards. No wonder we don't get it.
-discern - if the one discerning has never read the Bible in context, what standard are they using to discern? Many discern by what they heard or how they feel about certain things or how they were raised.
-eternity -  because of our limited view of how we see 'time', this idea gets lost. Because we view life thru the grid of what we do or don't do, thoughts come to mind as to what we will do forever and ever. These days,  we now think waiting in a checkout line can be an eternity, well. Clearly , you can see the problem.
-experiences - this word is gone. It's connection with God and Biblical passages has made regular daily life, you know, what we call "the daily grind" less in value. But God created humanity & nature that rolls on a cycle that (to us) seems monotonous. So we seek "experience " to spice up things thereby confusing the word. You can bet , in Christian circles, you will be asked if you've "experienced" God and you'd better have an experience to tell
-faith - severely abused word. Whose faith is it and who is faith in and how did we attain it?  We read Bible stories as personal faith stories so is it any wonder we don't know whose faith it is and where it came from.
-grace - because we make the Bible about us, it's understandable that the only way many churches can explain this is to say "grace is something we GET that we don't deserve, but Grace is so much more. This is how many concepts of the Bible get presented. They are presented to us by ways of appealing to our selfish nature. We ask ourselves "what do I GET out of all of this" and the preacher is glad to tell you.
-Gospel - I recently heard someone say that the gospel is wrapped in power. Talk about putting the cart before the horse. Please note : this gospel is for the believer. The sinner wants nothing to do with this. The church growth movement has gotten this backwards!
-hell - we think this is a place God's sends people too but it's actually a place God rescues us from. Just because we don't like the sentence we were born under doesn't make this any less true. See how getting things backwards changes the perspective. That's what happens when context becomes irrelevant.
-inspired - because we don't understand God's nature, we can't understand how God inspired men to write His Word. We're so stuck on ourselves, we think everything's ours.
Israel - a severely abused word. It's best not to change it.
-joy - I love that song "the joy of myself is my strength"  Wait, that's not right. Whose joy is it? We don't get it because it's not contingent upon our circumstances. Often  times , joy gets confused with being happy, which we can control being happy.
-kingdom - take this word out of context and we have a mess on our hands. Some think WE are gonna bring this in? It can only get worse from there.
-love - volumes could be written on the abuse of this word. Whether someone has read God's Word or not, we think we know what love is, but we can't even comprehend John 3:16.
-marriage - as God's first institution set up along with its constant theme throughout scripture, it's best to keep this where it belongs.  IMO, marriage second only to the Gospel in my thinking. If you want to understand the Bible in context, look at a healthy marriage, Christian or not, and consider what makes it healthy or look at a poor marriage and consider what might restore it.
-Noah - if you don't know who Enoch was, or Methuselah was, or if you don't understand the culture then how could you spot how this is type and shadow of Jesus , right down to the pitch used to seal the Ark.
-opinions - yours or mine don't matter, concerning this Bible. When any preacher says "I think this means..."  look out. Also have caution when any preacher starts by saying "the Lord told me to say this..."  Think about this. Lets say you might object to this? Does that mean you are objecting to the Lord? Best to use caution.
Prayer & Praise - since it's 'words' I'm claiming to be devalued, that would directly affect these. I heard someone say, "prayer is an attitude" and I like that. Praise can be that too. If our walk with God is like a relationship, then prayer /praise equals, when couples hold hands.
Quickly - God's "quickly" and my "quickly" are not the same thing. God said He's coming back quickly. How can that be, if a person is looking for Him? That "quickly" is only if your not look. Unfortunately this is the same person who doesn't understand patience.
Rapture -  now here's an abused word. It's almost as if we think, how dare God call out a a people of His own. It's almost worth keeping this word as is if only to avoid the direction it takes when removing it  concerning Bible's interpretation.
-Saved - this just might be the number one abused word. The world makes fun of it and the church abuses it  by all inclusiveness context. The visible church has gotten to the point where WE do everything, from getting saved to having faith. It's a wonder we need God at all.
Tithe -if you think your under this law , you've missed it, big time.
Tolerance - we love it, God hates it, gee , no potential for problems there :-/
Unity - the unity the visible church speaks of requires the tolerance God hates, which favors a one world religion for a one world govt. The message of the cross is divisive & offensive so uniting this with other religions won't work.
Version - there's as many versions of the Bible as there are models of vehicles to drive and just like vehicles, we pick the one we want. Besides liking your favorite version, what do you know about it? There's also versions for different categories. That's not good. Why? Because we get our word "category" from the term 'accuser' and satan is the accuser of the saints. He accuses us by getting us to categorize our sins. He's happy we have various Bible's for various groups. If your church regularly uses the "message" paraphrase, your being Deceived.
-worship - when this word is connected to feelings, there can be some problems. We even categorize worship,  based on OUR preference.
X?  Yoke * not a word we use a lot but it's not always a bad thing. God's yoke is easy.
-Zechariah -  a good book to read along side Revelation. If you attend a church that would read this book in context, with "you" not as its subject, you have a good church.

So there's my, off the top of my head, list.
I may not speak as eloquently as others so I did some research on how words have lost there meaning.
There was too much to include. But this is important, as indicated
from a review of the book - Speaking christianese/Marcus Borg - quote :

When Christians forget what their words mean, they forget what their faith means. (CNN )

So I'll end this post with an answer from gotquestions.org (a favorite site of mine) which shares, why this is so important.

http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-confusion.html

tryreadNit!

Communication?? and words A-Z (part 1)

The best thing about reading our Bibles in context is, it helps a person comprehend life around them better.
The worst thing about reading our Bibles in context is, it helps a person comprehend life around them better.

I want my posts to generally stay with the theme of this blog but at times, I'll stray. I'll be back in verse by vrs soon and the goal to sharing thoughts as I read is, to convey the point that life comes into focus the more we put God's Word back into context.
Problem is, we ain't gonna like what we're seeing in this world and we may wish to stick our heads, back in the sand.
For those who stay with it, the rewards  are worth it.

The problem with contextual, black & white thinkers is, communication.
People say to me "you don't really believe that God stuff do ya?"
Since observation confirms what God's Spirit reveals, why would I not believe God?

The nasty truth is, those of a more liberal mindset concerning social, economic, political & religious issues have created an impenetrable wall  around themselves.
They will say the same of believers, so what's the difference?

Communication, most often, is not an option as a way to  bring opposing sides together. Only fights and even blood shed accompany these attempts.

When I'm faced with a difficult concept to ponder, what helps me is looking for common denominators in opposing views.

Maybe I began doing that because for as long as I can remember, inconsistent reasoning has remained dominant.
Liberals make no sense. They follow no rules, no pattern.
When did people just start saying things, just to say em?
Ok, probably from the beginning.
It's hard to fathom that something like "when does life begin" still baffles the 21rst century mind.

Something happens when words are used between two opposing sides.
Something happens when we put our life's experiences into words.
What I mean is, there are several areas in my own life, I'm trying to improve , but if I were to try and communicate that with anyone (other than my wife), what I'm doing would come out odd sounding or even weird.

Makes me wonder if certain things were meant to be communicated.

Obviously,  the key is in my relationship with my wife.
And that key, btw, is the central driving theme of God's Word in context.
What I mean is, whenever I try to communicate anything outside (whatever that "key" is) it comes out weird.

Consider the many churches that preach sermon after sermon, not in context of God's Word. It sounds good but it comes out weird.

This is a sensitive area for me because over the years, I have alienated myself from many family & friends by trying to address things, not intended to be communicated, simply because there was no context offered along with my words. [ how could there be , in this "everybody's to busy" - "gotta have it now" - FB culture ]
Most people do not care about context.
Most don't care and do not have the time.

Now that I am putting things back into context , I still can't talk to those around me and the only one I can communicate with is the one (my wife) who stayed with me for over 30 years (talk about context :-)

It's not  words that brought things together better.
It was time.
It was the context of the words, context that demands time and effort to see.

And it's the same with the Bible. Pure and (not so) simple.

God has communicated His intentions clearly and precisely, over time. Problem is, we ain't got the time.
Again, my thoughts here are not a condition for salvation , but it sure is a condition when concerning ones sanity in this backwards fallen world.

The point to this blog is to encourage the one who takes the time, to get God's Word back in context. That's a tall order these days because while your getting it back in context, life rolls on. Bills need to be paid and the boss just cut your hours. Life rolls on.




Now when it comes to those areas, not meant to be communicated, there are several common denominators but two that are primary are
1) the denial of what we already know & 2) when an agenda is present.

Whether it's an atheist trying to remove the ten commandments or a preacher dragging someone off the street to save em, those two things persist.
I sometimes wonder, what if the atheist put those commandments in its context (other than his own context with an agenda)  and the preacher did the same with gang style witnessing.
I suspect the atheist wouldn't care and the preacher would be too busy tending his flock.
I'm not holding my breath for that too happen.
But context does matter

Being good at keeping things in context keeps a person asking questions as to what they believe.
In other words, if someone researches something, and finds an answer, they would then research that answer.
And so on and so on , till you've exhausted all avenues.
Can ya see yet, why believing what we want to believe is so much easier.


Try doing that with, let's say, our nation, America. Putting this back into context. That will take time. That's why I look for and watch videos or documentaries. Researching this country  will take forever and even then you wouldn't complete it, but when you do, you will learn things.
This will take you too a place that is just as frightening to us, as context is.

And that place is : becoming aware of things.

That is a scary place to be, for sure. I can not think of a scarier place to be.
Informed.
An informed person can't blame their upbringing.
An informed person can't rely on experiences.
And those two things are only the tip of the iceberg.

Being aware makes you accountable.
Just for a moment, as a Christian, think of all the things , about the Bible,  the only answer you could give is "I don't know."

Putting the Bible in context , as well as other issues is tough.
Don't believe me? Try researching your favorite political candidate or preacher or celebrity icon or music.
What do you really know concerning the things you like?

Anyway, You know what you'll find? (when u research things, putting them in context)  All things lead back to God.
And now you know why context is not important to people.

But changing the game plan is. That's how you avoid context. Create something new and make IT the context we run our lives thru.
That or just ignore the obvious.

There are several reasons one might change the context of God's Word. The two main ones I see most often is 1) their being offended at the exclusiveness of the Bible's (true) context and 2) they seek to make the Bible more relevant to our culture.

Like I said, things not meant to be communicated (by this I mean issues out of context) either has one denying what they know or one with an agenda.
Opinions drive these conversations and it requires patience and respect and even love, between those doing the communicating.

For example, when a conversation concerning politics arises between opposing views, I appreciate these discussions on an objective level.
There's so much more, than people think, when liking or disliking a candidate or party.
I guess it's because of the way I think, that I like to start at the beginning of opinions, as best one can.

For instance, my opinions begin at what I think humanity is capable of achieving.
Since many I know give mankind more credit than I think their due, our views differ.

Lots more could be said there and God's Word in context is not silent on economic & social issues, but the point is,

for longer than I care to admit, I've started or entered conversation without knowing all the facts. Those conversations rarely go well.

This could be why I am now so big on context. But as I have found, even that can get a person in trouble.

When it comes to the Bible, I try hard to avoid those with agendas  as I go thru God's Word with careful Exegesis minded teacher. I've found a handful I can trust which thankfully, includes our pastor.


By changing the game plan, to avoid context, is tricky business. It's God's world and His plan.

Btw, simply saying "that's your opinion" no longer cuts it when considering context.

Christians just can't handle the "that's your opinion" card when it's thrown.

I fell for it also, till I saw it was just a way to avoid checking things out, by placing what's not mine, on me.

Here's something to consider.
Never once, in all of human history ,h as there been a credibly argument against God, as He is reveals Himself in the complete context of His Word.
If Christian and non Christians knew what it said, they'd know that God has addressed whatever the concern might be.
I don't think anything else can claim that.

OK, got a little side tracked there.
Anyway, changing the game plan  involves changing words, or at least causing the hearer of your words to "think" they mean something other than there meaning.

Now we're in tricky land, (by changing words),  which leads to delusional world.

My learning of what hermeneutics was helped me in this area.
The twisting of words is no small matter, especially when there God's Words.

My brain does flip flops whenever I consider what we've done to the English language.
The other day, when I was thinking about this, I thought to myself "man, I could go from A to Z finding words we've devalued & deconstructed to strip these words of there meaning, and I thought, hey, that's a good idea.

I'll include em in a post.

tryreadNit!