Thanks for all your comments on shame. They were all very helpful.
I do sometimes wonder about the relationship of scripture with solving our problems, forgive me on this, I believe that the bible is the word of God, but does just quoting it at our problems solve them?
Obviously it is the spirit that brings life to the word, and without the spirit the word is dead. I remember when leading a church in the UK and people would sometimes say, "there wasn't enough word this morning" and basically what they meant was you didn't quote enough Bible verses. Something can be biblical without the need to quote scripture.
Michael Riddle once said "The bible is not the word of God" a highly controversial statement but went on to say it is "the womb of the word" it is the Spirit that brings it life and makes it the word of God.
I once heard a guy called Marc Dupont say that the church has been guilty of worshiping Father Son and Holy Bible I can see were he is going with that. Do you think this could be true?
Anyway just a random ramble, what I have been trying to do over the last few weeks is memorize parts of the bible I used to do this when I was a child and it has really helped me, so it was the beatitudes last week.
The Word without the Spirit is dead, lets not just quote formulaic verses at our problems but instead allow the Spirit to do the work.
I like this little line from the Message "Don't look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life - to God! - is vigorous and requires loads of attention"
4 comments:
Welcome to Finland, that Dupont's comment is true of much of Finnish Christianity. Unfortunately.. In the sense that Holy Spirit is often bottled out. Nice response Brian. I like your, I don't know the right word to describe it, but kind of being so honest and truthfully who you are, and straight away responding with what you think. I respect^!
Very thought prevoking!
I haven't read the Bible much this week, but I have been praying.
The past few days I have had an issue with someone and I didn't know how to address it without sounding tactless or aggressive towards them. I prayed about it and felt peaceful for a while, but I still couldn't stop dwelling on it.
This morning I grabbed some me time and opened the Bible randomly. The first verse I read was specific to my issue and gave me the directions on how to resolve it spritually and in love.
Sometimes I allow my thoughts and feelings obscure what God's trying to say to me. For me, the most significant messages I have received from God is via the Bible.
However, it doesn't always happen that way and it's not always relevant.
I know in some bibles there are these bits about turn here if you are lonely, or read here if you are angry, but it is not always as easy as that, I feel there is always something specific for you, something personal, God wants to say to you. It is a living word.
Done a lot of thinking about the Bible over the last few years - and it definitely isn't like the Koran or even the Torah. Jesus said "I am the truth": that makes our Truth a living person with a loving beating heart at its centre not a just set a words/rules. That has helped me loads as it means I can approach the scripture in a relational way - prod it, ask questions of it as well as let it do the same to me. It's a light to guide us; but not The Light.
We need to be careful to check out some of the Old Testament word pictures to ensure they cross check with Jesus - the revelation of God - before we quote them willy-nilly.
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