I have been a Christian since 1962, and have always believed what I was taught. At times I would disagree with the preacher, but I would always think, who am I to disagree with someone more educated than me, and a “Man of God”. It has only been these last 10 years or so that I have come to realize that sometimes I have more understanding on a subject than they do. I even disagree with J. F. Dake a lot. I also disagree with my local pastor at times. I guess the reason I disagree with these 2 men of God is that they both are trained by the same Seminary. They are just teaching what they were taught. You should always check out what you hear, with the Bible. I am blessed to be able to read and understand reasonably well,(just a High School degree). But as I get older I have come to realize that your education need only be Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. If you can read and write you have all the education you need to understand the Bible. A good Bible Concordance and a Dictionary are your two best helps. With these you can study the Bible for yourself, (2 Timothy 2:15) it is fun and will help you grow and own what the Holy Spirit teaches you.
My pastor in Ohio used to say, “Don’t take my word for it, check it out with the Bible”. Everything anyone says, including a preacher, is just giving you their opinion of any subject which they preach or teach. We have to believe the Bible is the Word of God, or we will not have any means for our faith to be built upon. It was written by many different people under the direction of the Holy Spirit of God, or else it is just another history book to be read and put on a shelf.
This brings me to a pet peeve of mine. All the preachers I know use a verse or part of a verse and then build their sermon around this, whether or not it is in context or not. Just as long as it proves their point on Sunday morning. This may or may not be what the Holy Spirit was trying to say when He wrote the passage they are using. This is wrong in my humble opinion to teach this way.
Another pet peeve of mine is the way they go into the Old Testament to teach or preach to you, the modern Church. I am of the opinion that the Holy Spirit took out of the Old Testament all we need as the Church. That is why we have the New Testament, is it not? Old Testament-Old Covenant, New Testament-New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6). The authors of the New Testament give you more information to preach from, than there is time left to preach it.
I believe the Bible is our road map home, and our instruction manual for daily life on this earth. But, you have to read it first, to know what it contains for you. Our journey will be one of excitement and fun, but it will be very challenging before it is over. You will make it, just don’t give up. See you next week.
The Kilted Priest 