I am amazed at the number of Christians that I converse with sometimes about Bible verses. Did you know that there are a certain number of verses that about every Christian knows? John 3:16 for example seems to be the one they know most. I ask them what John 3:17 says or even John 3:18, only to get a blank look. Now before you begin to think that I am saying that every Christian should remember every verse in the Bible, or at least the New Testament, I am not. That would certainly be very beneficial for all of us to do though! The other thing I have found out is just how little many Christians really know in regards to certain doctrines of Christianity. I think one reason is the fact that so many do not study the Scriptures. I know people who have read the Bible through over 10 times; but they could not tell me what Jesus meant when He said that we must "Eat His flesh and drink His blood." How can Scripture really benefit us if we do not know how to apply it? If we had just read a manual about how to drive a car but we never got under the wheel would we really know how to drive it?
I have noticed a big drop in Sunday School attendance over the years. The church I attended as a kid had a ton of people in Sunday School. Half of them would leave after it was over and not be in the "preaching service." Today, most people attend a worship service and not Sunday school or even a weekly Bible study. Many of the churches in our area no longer have Wednesday evening or Sunday evening services; because they don't have enough people coming to make it worthwhile they say! That is why I consider myself a "treacher." I spend most of my sermon time teaching coupled with some preaching. It is easy to tell people what to do but without telling them why they need to do it and why God wants them to do it, there is a good chance it will never get done.
There has been an information explosion in the last decade and the amount of information available to us on any subject we choose has contributed to us taking the quote that someone once said to heart: "You don't have to know everything, you just need to know where to find it when you need it." We can access any Scripture in the Bible in a matter of seconds. We can read hundreds of commentaries and blogs on that Scripture. We can "self educate" ourselves on every subject in the Bible at the touch of screen. We can generally select the information we like, that says what we would like to hear, and discard the rest. All this information flooding our brains eventually finds it way into our spirits and we no longer need the Holy Spirit to teach us or tell us anything; we can Google it. If the congregants that listen to my message on Sunday morning or night are offended by something I say, they can always Google it and find someone else that will say that I am wrong. It is almost as if there is no absolute truth any longer so what is the point of studying if we have no real answers.
Oh, my friend, there is absolute truth; and it is the Bible. Not the bloggers (like me), not the commentators opinions, or the theological explanations, but the Bible. The Word of God Himself. For no prophecy recorded in Scripture was ever thought up by the prophet himself. It was the Holy Spirit within these godly men who gave them true messages from God (2 Peter 1:20 The Living Bible). Many folk think that the teachers and pastors do all the studying for them, even believing that is what we "get paid to do." People have a doctor, a dentist, a hair stylist, a therapist, and the pastor that will take care of their spiritual needs. I hope it does not come down to Jesus asking someone, "Why did you believe that?" Only to have them say, "Because my pastor told me it was true." Do like the Bereans that the Apostle Paul talked about: They received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so (Acts 17:11).
I have noticed a big drop in Sunday School attendance over the years. The church I attended as a kid had a ton of people in Sunday School. Half of them would leave after it was over and not be in the "preaching service." Today, most people attend a worship service and not Sunday school or even a weekly Bible study. Many of the churches in our area no longer have Wednesday evening or Sunday evening services; because they don't have enough people coming to make it worthwhile they say! That is why I consider myself a "treacher." I spend most of my sermon time teaching coupled with some preaching. It is easy to tell people what to do but without telling them why they need to do it and why God wants them to do it, there is a good chance it will never get done.
There has been an information explosion in the last decade and the amount of information available to us on any subject we choose has contributed to us taking the quote that someone once said to heart: "You don't have to know everything, you just need to know where to find it when you need it." We can access any Scripture in the Bible in a matter of seconds. We can read hundreds of commentaries and blogs on that Scripture. We can "self educate" ourselves on every subject in the Bible at the touch of screen. We can generally select the information we like, that says what we would like to hear, and discard the rest. All this information flooding our brains eventually finds it way into our spirits and we no longer need the Holy Spirit to teach us or tell us anything; we can Google it. If the congregants that listen to my message on Sunday morning or night are offended by something I say, they can always Google it and find someone else that will say that I am wrong. It is almost as if there is no absolute truth any longer so what is the point of studying if we have no real answers.Oh, my friend, there is absolute truth; and it is the Bible. Not the bloggers (like me), not the commentators opinions, or the theological explanations, but the Bible. The Word of God Himself. For no prophecy recorded in Scripture was ever thought up by the prophet himself. It was the Holy Spirit within these godly men who gave them true messages from God (2 Peter 1:20 The Living Bible). Many folk think that the teachers and pastors do all the studying for them, even believing that is what we "get paid to do." People have a doctor, a dentist, a hair stylist, a therapist, and the pastor that will take care of their spiritual needs. I hope it does not come down to Jesus asking someone, "Why did you believe that?" Only to have them say, "Because my pastor told me it was true." Do like the Bereans that the Apostle Paul talked about: They received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so (Acts 17:11).
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