The Greatest Question

2006-09-26T18:37:00.000-05:00

For those who have been waiting for me to write my next entry, I apologize for making you wait so long. To be honest with you, I didn't think anyone cared to read my thoughts. A few days ago, I received an email from a friend and brother in the Lord encouraging me to keep penning my thoughts. He was God's catalyst to me in getting me to pen some new thoughts. So now, I sit and pen a few thoughts that I hope will bless you.

A few years ago, I met someone who said to me that Christ's death on the cross was a worthless act that meant nothing. I nearly bit my tongue off from hastily responding without fully hearing him out. God gave me the grace to listen to this "brother", at least he professed to be a follower of Christ. He went on to say that Christ sinned like every other man and that there was evidence to prove this. I asked him what evidence and his answer, which came as no surprise was: my spiritual guide, he named the person, whose name slips my mind, is a "learned man of God" who received "revelation from God" of these things. He went on trying to convince me that I needed to meet this individual and get enlightened. Of course, I told him that the Holy Spirit through scripture has given me all the enlightment I needed and wondered why he considered himself a follower of Christ.

My confrontation with this man got me thinking: who is this Christ's of the Bible? Jesus asked his disciples this same question in Matthew 16:13-20. "Who do you say I am?" He received different answers. Yet, his question has the same relevance today that it did then. Christ still speaks today and asks us: who do you say I am? Your answer makes an eternal difference.

Examine The Truth

2006-09-26T16:55:00.000-05:00

Act seventeen verses eleven and twelve say that "those in Berea were nobler than the Thessalonians, for they received the word (Paul and Silas preaching and teaching) with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men."

When I first read this passage several days after receiving Christ as my Lord and Savior, I determined that I would become a student of scripture. Twenty years ago, my study time consisted of reading, cross referencing, and praying to God for understanding and insight. These were wonderful times of fellowship. God spoke to me and taught me the importance of sitting at his feet and listening to him (Luke10:38-42). He gave me a love for the truth, which was quite amazing because reading and studying wasn't something I enjoyed doing in my spare time when I didn't have to for school.

This brings me to my reason for penning these thoughts: over the years, I lost my passion for bible study and became overly dependent on others to teach me the word of God. Like you, I thank God for gifted teachers who have helped me to grow in my understanding of him and his word. I feel privileged to hear sound teaching each and every week and to own books written by some of the nations finest teachers of scripture, not to mention cassette tapes and cds. Yet, the Lord reminds me that he wants me to open my bible, sit at his feet, and learn the truth of scripture from the Holy Spirit as he speaks to me. But, this is my concern and why I write what I'm writing, I'm afraid that too many Christians, such as myself, are blindly, Sunday after Sunday, sitting in pews listening to the word of God, which is good, but failing to take what they receive and exam it for themselves in scripture. Because we are failing to do this, we are weak in practice, unfit to effectively evangelize, and unable to articulate what we believe to others who ask us for the reason of our hope (1Peter 3:15).

This became abundantly clear to me a few months ago when I called a friend overseas. At one point in our conversation, we got on the topic of women serving in leadership roles in the church. She was passionate in conveying to me why God, in

Amazing Grace

The Greatest Question

Examine The Truth