I had a call today from one of the most infamous men in the country. I was honored. We spoke and blessed each other. I may not be as famous as he, but we do share some things in common.
That made me think about Jesus. What do we have in common with him? Do we suffer for the sake of the truth? Do we suffer because we want to talk about Jesus? Not hardly in this present world. Especially in the USA. Is non suffering a problem OR a blessing?
The man I talked with has received death threats. Could you live with that? He has receive them because he wants to teach with the Bible says, not traditional doctrine. Why would some who say they follow Jesus want to threaten others with death? I think because they have no truth to stand on.
Consider for yourself the next time you 'want to rip someone's face off' why? Because they are true, and you have no rebuttal? They speak the truth, and it cuts deeply?
The use of physical harm as a tool isn't evangelism. It is extortion. Those who employ such tactics won't inherit the kingdom.

How Do We Read the Bible

You know that it is hard not to bring our 'baggage' into a conversation. The same is true when we read the Bible. Some of us have (well all of us) preconceived notions about what the Bible teaches. We come at it from positions that are loaded with what we have heard from teachers, what we have seen in movies, and even what we have sung in hymns. Those may not be the best sources for truth of what is in the Bible.
Here are some phrases that may help to illustrate the point: You can look at most of these statements from several different points of view. So, ask yourself, do I have enough information to know what is being said?

1. A farmer went out to plow a field, with a...

2. He was 'flying high'. In or on what?

3. She is burning a disc. Like the Olympic games

4. Could you drive me home? Like someone would drive a mule?

5. They scored. At what?

Each of these five phrases needs to have questions answered before the statement can be understood. The same is true of Biblical Scripture. The old Testament was written in Hebrew, by Hebrews. The new testament was written in Greek by Hebrews. Just because it was written in Greek doesn't mean that the writers had a Greek mind set. Here's an illustration. I have a friend who is German. She speaks very good English. I wanted to entertain her with the movie "Brother,Where Art Thou". It didn't work. She wasn't able to catch all the subtle details of the 'jokes'. Even though she spoke English. The point is, she still 'thought like a German'.
So too, the writers of the New Testament. They spoke Greek, but thought in terms of the Hebrews. We ought not think that because the New Testament was written in Greek that the writers thought with the Greek philosophical mind set. I think that it is best to take the New Testament in terms of what the Old Testament says. That will bring us closer to what the writers had in mind.
Pastor Chuck