Jump Start # 932

Ephesians 3:3-5 “that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made know to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit.”

I started a new book last night. It comes with a lot of hype and is about living the transformed life in Christ. Two pages into the book and I was already disgusted with it. I’m getting fed up with modern religious writers. All their books read the same. First, they can’t write a few pages without having to tell their story, their success and how great they are. If I wanted an autobiography about the author I would have bought that. This is especially true on books about the prodigal son. It seems that modern writers aren’t content with Jesus’ story. They have to tell their own prodigal story in such a way that it trumps what Jesus said.

Secondly, the lack of Biblical knowledge is astonishing. If these writers don’t know the Bible is it any wonder that the people sitting in the pews where these guys are preaching don’t have a clue. In the book I read last night, the author described a dream God sent him about building a church. When they couldn’t afford a paved parking lot, his wife had a dream, from God, about how the parking lot would be paved for free. A local businessman, also had a dream from God, was directed to pave the parking lot for free. Sure was a lot of “godly” dreaming going on in those first few pages. Everyone was happy, happy, happy. God was really working. Dreams will flying and parking lots were being paved.

When someone writes stuff like this, and this is common, run of the mill lingo found in current religious books, who can argue with a dream from God? It seems that this is divine. This is what God wants.

I am so weary of such misuse of God and ignorance of His word. Our passage tells us that the APOSTLES were guided by the Holy Spirit. The APOSTLES were led by the Holy Spirit. The APOSTLES were filled with the Holy Spirit. They wrote. The Christians read. When the Christians read, they knew. They knew what the apostles did. This came after the apostles wrote and the Christians read. God didn’t send dreams to the Christians. Peter had a dream before he went to Cornelius’ house. Peter was an apostle. Paul had a vision a couple of times. Paul was an apostle. The Christians weren’t getting dreams from God. They were busy reading what the apostles wrote. Had the author of the book I read spent more time reading and less time sleeping or dreaming he would have learned some things.

The book of Hebrews begins with the principle that long ago God talked to man in many ways. The Old Testament shows that. He spoke through burning bushes, visions, donkeys, prophets, messages written on walls. The passage goes on to say that in these last days He speaks through His son. God speaks through Jesus. John begins his gospel by referring to Jesus as the “WORD.” He didn’t call Jesus the “DREAM.”

Twice in the New Testament we are told that God is not a respecter of persons. If God tells me something, but doesn’t tell you what He told me, it seems like He has favored me. God doesn’t do that. I never got a dream about parking lots. Peter wrote in his second letter that all things pertaining to life and godliness has been given by God. If Peter’s readers had EVERYTHING they needed, then why is God still sending dreams, whispers and other messages?

The bottom line is that God speaks through the written word today. That is His avenue. This is why the Bible takes such a supreme place in the plan of God.

People can have dreams. People can have goals, plans and ideas. But to say, “God sent me this dream,” is not Biblical. It’s starting at a wrong place. Someone building a church, movement or foundation at this starting place is going to miss it because his misunderstanding of God’s word is going to take him places that he shouldn’t be. The assurance of God is in following His word. It is not in trusting our feelings or what we think are Heaven sent dreams.

So many people operate under the thinking that God told me to do this, or, God sent me here. They confuse faith and feelings. They put more trust in feelings that the word of God. They will ignore what the Bible says because of what their feelings tell them. When discussing things like this, it is common to hear someone reply, “Oh, that’s just the Bible.” Yeah! You’re right, it is the Bible. Put the brakes on. Stop. Listen. Read. Study. Look. You can’t be right with God and wrong with the Bible. You can’t please God and ignore what He says in the Bible. Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

Feelings can be misleading. Feelings change. Feelings are fickle. Faith isn’t like that. Faith is based upon the word of God (Romans 10:17). Faith and feelings are not the same.

Does God tell me what to do? Yes. How does He tell me? Not in dreams, whispers, voices, feelings. He tells me through His word.

God’s people are a people of the book.

Roger

Jump Start # 834

Ephesians 3:3-5 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;

Have you been watching The History Channel’s “The Bible?” Interesting. There are a few liberties and inaccuracies with the Biblical account but it does visual the stories we read in the Bible.

This brings us to a few thoughts about our Bible.

First, God chose words, not pictures to reveal His message. He chose words, not feelings to transmit His will. Many times in the book of Revelation, John is told to “write what you see.

Words have meanings. They can be memorized, copied and studied. Written words last. I have several books in my library that are over 100 years old. The authors, publishers and printers are long dead but their work remains. Written words are accurate. We go back to what was written and we know exactly. Words can be defined. They have meaning. Feelings are hard to understand. Feelings can be misleading. God chose words.

God could have sent us all DVD’s. But He didn’t. God chose words. Those words of God were preached. They were read. They were repeated. Plays, dramas, and videos have a place in our world. They are effective ways of communicating today. However, they cannot replace the word. God told the apostles to go into all the world and PREACH. He didn’t say go and “act it out.” The spokesmen of God’s word were called preachers, not actors.

Second, God’s word is not written like a novel. I think some wish that it was. The History Channel series has shown a lot of the emotion and suspense behind some of the Bible events. I don’t doubt that some of that was true. The fear, the turmoil, and the struggles become vivid on TV. God doesn’t milk those things in His story. So many Bible events are told matter of fact with little thought into what the person thought or felt as it was taking place. The emotions make great TV but we can’t build our faith around those things. God appeals to our heads and not our feelings. He could have made us tremble in fear or cry our eyes out if He wanted to. God is an amazing author. He’s the best. He could have grab our hearts and made us captivated to the drama of His story. Instead, He appealed to our heads. God is after our wills. Because the Bible is not like a novel, some do not like it. They find the story boring.

Third, God understood that words have meanings. Paul’s thoughts from our verse today expresses that. When you read, he said, you will know my insight. You will know what was revealed  to me. You will know  what I know. How? Simply by reading? Yes. Don’t I need the Holy Spirit  to guide me, enlighten me and show me? No. Paul had the Spirit. You don’t need the Holy Spirit to understand the message. When you read, you will know what Paul knew. Intellect. Mind. Faith. Evidence. Proof. This is what God is after. This is the direction that the Bible is written. No pictures, only words. Not much emotion, mostly appealing to the mind. Not a textbook and not a novel. Those words of God are living. They affect us. They change us. They teach us. They warn us. They give us hope. They answer questions. They are the bridge to knowing God and all that is about Him. There is something about the Bible that we all understand. We may not read the paper everyday, but we do the Bible. We turn to it when our hearts are broken. We read it to find answers. We read it to know God. Some stay up at night and read the Bible. Others begin their day by reading the Bible. No other book has that affect nor impact upon man. No other book transcends time, national boundaries and touches home after home as the Bible does. No other book is read, studied, translated and treasured as the Bible.

Sometimes TV shows about Bible events can distort things in our minds. We can visualize Moses as Charlton Heston, the actor from the movie, Ten Commandments. We can visualize Jesus as the actor in “The Passion of the Christ.” Our faith can gravitate towards those images more than they should. Could this be a reason why there are no pictures of Jesus sent from Heaven? Could this be why God did not want any graven images? The image has a potential of becoming what we worship instead of God.

Sadly, I was told that someone was going to write a novel based upon the TV series about the Bible. Why write the story when we have the Bible? Could it be that more will read the novel than the real thing? Could it be that the novel will become the standard for some instead of the Bible.

What I enjoy the most from shows about the Bible are the scenery. It shows what the land looked like, where the people walked and what the conditions may have been. Very interesting.

The series will give you many things to talk about with your friends. It an open doors. For that, it is good. However, our faith, our hope and our life revolves around the written word of God—THE Bible. Come to know the Bible. Come to love the Bible. Use it. Live by it. Keep it. Carry it. God’s words are true. God’s words are right. God’s words can take us to Him and finally, they can take us Home.

Roger