Something I've just been thinking about.
Has anyone but me ever notice how people, during any conversation can, if they want to, toss out a phrase or two that completely deflects one from the subject you were trying to convey.
Of the endless ways this is done one of my favorites is , when someone wants to hold up ones experiences as a measuring stick to Guage any success or failure of whatever it is they are discussing at the time.
Such an individual thinks they have the upper hand in communication like this, but do they?
Some folks would call this blog, my "experience" but they'd be wrong. Saying things like that is a popular deflection tactic that keeps people at odds.
Also , talking about ones experiences is a Christians way of not committing to anything. Chances are, my experience wont be your experience and since, these days, we guage things off the results rather than what brought us there, or the sum (of an equation) rather than the problem, we have odd sounding language m
(besides, our experiences shouldn't be the same or that's kinda creepy)
All that matters is what God said plainly in His Word.
I once had someone tell me " you can argue an argument but you can't argue an experience" to which I would say "who says!?"
The church is filled with this thinking, along with "connecting" with someone or something.
Ever hear, 'we gotta connect with God' or. 'come to our church, a great place to connect with God '
Btw, what does that mean "connect with God?"
I know what their trying to say but doesn't it imply at times I'm not connected with God?
Ah, now enter "feelings." See how this works?
I'm sure all this connecting with God will yield to many experiences and I'm guessing that is the point. I'm all for listening to and sharing ones experiences but so often I'm told I must have one.. an experience that is, with God.
Funny, I thought I was having one,daily that begins when my feet hit the floor in the morning and ends when I close my eyes at night then begins all over the next day.
Oh, but that's not good enough for many.
So many times, since reading God's Word as me not being the main subject, I've asked things like
"how would we know" to things of this nature.
If we need to attend church to connect with God, how will we know if we did? Are there any rules for this connecting, do some people connect and some people don't? Is having an experience evidence of connecting and what of the intensity of the experience? Maybe there's levels of experience /connecting.
I'm basically having fun here but the point is, the language used creates something weird that can't be truly defined which leaves the one not having experiences the way others might deem them to have, scratching their heads.
I know I could get myself in trouble here because one just doesn't mess with someone's experiences and truthfully, one's experiences are of the utmost highest, vital importance and should not be messed with.
Our experiences often times define us but as with everything else, the language used by many churches concerning experiences quite often creates something weird. Something where christian young people are told to go out and have them before their ever shown what it means to be daily repenting of there sins they commit each day.
This new odd abstract, subjective understanding of experience has them accessing life via these experiences rather than the completed work of the cross. I'm not just making that up and it's not my experience.
Way to often, the real things that are taking place in our lives get shoved into the "experience bag" just by saying "well, that's just YOUR experience" placing the whole discussion in a subjective realm
and before to long we can't discern between real & experience, (sadly) to the delight of many, I might add.
At the end of my life, I do not want to be taking inventory of the experiences of my life and trying to determine if the good ones outweighed the bad ones.
If my daily walk with God is not enough to sing praises to Him daily with whatever good, or not so good, comes along, maybe I'm not doing something right.
And if I'm so blessed to have an extraordinarily amazing over the top, out of the ordinary experience, praise God for that too. If People can be blessed from it, all the better. In every situation God be praised.
I've heard it taught that James 1 indicates being joyful in all experiences but if my house burns down (bad experience for sure) should I do a happy dance.
No.. It's the testing of our faith (faith in what?) faith in Christ that eventually brings a joy (note : God's joy, not ours)
So much of Bible gets turned around in many ways.
I ended this post this way because if I made light of experiences, forgive me. Not the intent.
My only point is, applying human wisdom to anything, even experiences, messes things up.
Think about that the next time someone asks if you ever had an experience with God... And you can't think of one. Kinda sad needing too. Unless our daily service for God done out of a growing love for Jesus loving us when we were not so lovely isn't enough.
The Bible does have much to say concerning experiences that's for sure. My suggestion :
TryreadNit!
Read Gods Word in context!
**posts temporarily removed - will be back soon **Welcome to my : "this really isn't a blog is it? I named it tryreadNit..
All opinions on books, videos & links are my own and receive no compensation for any reviews.
So, how do we know if we are reading the Bible properly? If whenever your reading the Bible and it bothers you and troubles you and sometimes even makes you angry, chances are your beginning to understand it. Hang in there with reading it because the Bible is filled with amazing blessings but to get to them we must travel through some muddy waters.
I guess I began wondering if there were other Christians raised in the church who one day realized decades later that they never really read the Bible . They have no clue what it says. They only know what someone else told them it says.
A funny thing happens when you read Gods Word as it was meant to be read. In context from beginning to end. Cover to cover. You soon discover that what you were told doesn't square with what it actually says.
This blog chronicles my journey from when my eyes began to open since my first time thru the Bible. I examine how so many passages of scripture get twisted to fit someone's agenda. I talk a lot about "context." Quite often I sound critical and judgmental. This cannot be avoided. My goal is to promote discernment. My goal is to encourage others to research what the read and listen to . So many believers have no idea why they believe what they do.
The main idea of this blog is context. Read Gods Word as a book. Not rocket science. It will take some time. It wont happen over night. Comparing what we "thought" the Bible says to what it "actually" says can be frustrating but the blessing of understanding Gods Word in context is worth the effort.
Acts 17:11b
I recently purchased a chronological Bible that I truly love and I think it could help those who struggle reading the Bible .
(please click the image below to find out more)
I guess I began wondering if there were other Christians raised in the church who one day realized decades later that they never really read the Bible . They have no clue what it says. They only know what someone else told them it says.
A funny thing happens when you read Gods Word as it was meant to be read. In context from beginning to end. Cover to cover. You soon discover that what you were told doesn't square with what it actually says.
This blog chronicles my journey from when my eyes began to open since my first time thru the Bible. I examine how so many passages of scripture get twisted to fit someone's agenda. I talk a lot about "context." Quite often I sound critical and judgmental. This cannot be avoided. My goal is to promote discernment. My goal is to encourage others to research what the read and listen to . So many believers have no idea why they believe what they do.
The main idea of this blog is context. Read Gods Word as a book. Not rocket science. It will take some time. It wont happen over night. Comparing what we "thought" the Bible says to what it "actually" says can be frustrating but the blessing of understanding Gods Word in context is worth the effort.
Acts 17:11b
I recently purchased a chronological Bible that I truly love and I think it could help those who struggle reading the Bible .
(please click the image below to find out more)
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- So how do we fix this?
- Why is context so important?
- Where did this emergent church mess come from?
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Thursday, July 14, 2016
********At the risk of sounding redundant, every so often I wonder why I started blogging.
After 9 yrs of keeping God's Word in context, the effects of that are nothing less than amazing.
Maybe I find it therapeutic to share how everyday occurrences, develop a clearer and sharper perspective simple because God's Word is back where it belongs.
I mentioned before, that quite often, Sunday morning sets the stage for the week.
Believers all know that come Monday, we will spend a majority of the next six days, being influenced by a hostile (to God's truths) world.
From news media to pop culture, it never ends.
With each passing day, it becomes clearer and clearer that I've lost the ability to just jump into some popular subject, whether it's Christian or not, but jumping into these subjects, absent any context, makes conclusions many come too concerning, whatever is they are discussing, very confusing.
Since Noone has time for adding context to any issue, well you can see, communication is challenging.
I love small talk and I respect people's views and as long things are fine. as you don't ask why they believe what they do.
I'm truly not crazy. But I have to watch pop culture lead our Christian kids, to unimaginable, heart breaking situations only to come back years later, and chase after MORE of what led to them astray, in the first place?
Can't help but ask "will we ever learn?"
The reasons for that become clearer as one examines the "free for all" atmosphere of the visible church.
It's only Tuesday and I've already considered two difficult issues.
1)persecution of the church. I listened to an extreme position and a contextual one. What i came away with is a deeper desire to pray for persecuted Christians.
And 2nd was, I was reminded from a brother in Christ I respect, Jesus words about "what we bind on earth....... bind in heaven" verses in Matthew.
Prayer has been something I've been focusing on and that's why that came up.
So many times, I'm reminded of of my not considering the consequences of no longer understanding christian language.
Case in point, this brother in Christ asked if I had a, face to face, nose to nose, eye to eye type relationship with Jesus.
If I had been quicker on my feet, I would have said "no, and neither do you."
Look, I get what it means to have a relationship with Jesus.
I just don't get the language we use to describe it.
I am usually ok with biblical issues that are more dividing than others.
Where I jump ship at, is when selected verses are used to support ones divided view.
Whether it's the rapture, the Millennium, Israel, the church, our faith, what we can bind, and so many christian beliefs that divide, I myself need time to sort through it.
Since the time I first read the Bible , I've noticed that when it comes to dividing views, that contain many many interpretations, I'm more prone to adopt the view that's most consistent with all of scripture.
Take for example,that subject that came up with a friend this week.
Those verses about what we bind here on earth.
Now I respect this friend so it was worth my time to re educate myself.
Why would Jesus interrupt His line of thinking to inform us, in this apostate culture, that we can bind demons?
That's a first question.
Who was He talking to? Where were they? What was He talking about?
What's the theme of the entire Bible? What keys is He talking about?
That's not even a scratch on the surface of this subject. Point is, if someone is reading their Bible straight thru, beginning at Genesis, and if by the time you get to Matthew you think your gonna tackle satan, in any fashion, you might wanna check your hermeneutics.
Man, I can just imagine the disgust that some might have over what they "think" I just said.
Key word there is "think" because something else I've noticed, about communication, since reading vrs by vrs,in context is, that in most discussions, the first couple things that come to mind as I try to share what God's been doing..
That ain't it! Those initial things that come to ones minds are the things that need to be plowed thru, when seeking to get to the truth.
Those initial things that comes to ones mind are the very things I no longer consider.
In doing so, this has given proper insight (only God can give) to the Bible.
After 9 yrs of keeping God's Word in context, the effects of that are nothing less than amazing.
Maybe I find it therapeutic to share how everyday occurrences, develop a clearer and sharper perspective simple because God's Word is back where it belongs.
I mentioned before, that quite often, Sunday morning sets the stage for the week.
Believers all know that come Monday, we will spend a majority of the next six days, being influenced by a hostile (to God's truths) world.
From news media to pop culture, it never ends.
With each passing day, it becomes clearer and clearer that I've lost the ability to just jump into some popular subject, whether it's Christian or not, but jumping into these subjects, absent any context, makes conclusions many come too concerning, whatever is they are discussing, very confusing.
Since Noone has time for adding context to any issue, well you can see, communication is challenging.
I love small talk and I respect people's views and as long things are fine. as you don't ask why they believe what they do.
I'm truly not crazy. But I have to watch pop culture lead our Christian kids, to unimaginable, heart breaking situations only to come back years later, and chase after MORE of what led to them astray, in the first place?
Can't help but ask "will we ever learn?"
The reasons for that become clearer as one examines the "free for all" atmosphere of the visible church.
It's only Tuesday and I've already considered two difficult issues.
1)persecution of the church. I listened to an extreme position and a contextual one. What i came away with is a deeper desire to pray for persecuted Christians.
And 2nd was, I was reminded from a brother in Christ I respect, Jesus words about "what we bind on earth....... bind in heaven" verses in Matthew.
Prayer has been something I've been focusing on and that's why that came up.
So many times, I'm reminded of of my not considering the consequences of no longer understanding christian language.
Case in point, this brother in Christ asked if I had a, face to face, nose to nose, eye to eye type relationship with Jesus.
If I had been quicker on my feet, I would have said "no, and neither do you."
Look, I get what it means to have a relationship with Jesus.
I just don't get the language we use to describe it.
I am usually ok with biblical issues that are more dividing than others.
Where I jump ship at, is when selected verses are used to support ones divided view.
Whether it's the rapture, the Millennium, Israel, the church, our faith, what we can bind, and so many christian beliefs that divide, I myself need time to sort through it.
Since the time I first read the Bible , I've noticed that when it comes to dividing views, that contain many many interpretations, I'm more prone to adopt the view that's most consistent with all of scripture.
Take for example,that subject that came up with a friend this week.
Those verses about what we bind here on earth.
Now I respect this friend so it was worth my time to re educate myself.
Why would Jesus interrupt His line of thinking to inform us, in this apostate culture, that we can bind demons?
That's a first question.
Who was He talking to? Where were they? What was He talking about?
What's the theme of the entire Bible? What keys is He talking about?
That's not even a scratch on the surface of this subject. Point is, if someone is reading their Bible straight thru, beginning at Genesis, and if by the time you get to Matthew you think your gonna tackle satan, in any fashion, you might wanna check your hermeneutics.
Man, I can just imagine the disgust that some might have over what they "think" I just said.
Key word there is "think" because something else I've noticed, about communication, since reading vrs by vrs,in context is, that in most discussions, the first couple things that come to mind as I try to share what God's been doing..
That ain't it! Those initial things that come to ones minds are the things that need to be plowed thru, when seeking to get to the truth.
Those initial things that comes to ones mind are the very things I no longer consider.
In doing so, this has given proper insight (only God can give) to the Bible.
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slippery slope
Remember how, not that long ago, those who knew their Bible's, would say "that's a Slippery slope" concerning educational, political, religious or social issues. We may not be at the bottom but I wonder, how far are we from the top. The purpose of this blog is "context", which means -
->the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc.��
->the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc.��
Anything taken out of it, is a Slippery slope!