Difficult Verses in the Bible by Gary Kurz.
Can anyone deny that there are passages in the Bible that are very hard to understand and sometimes hard to accept? The question is of course, rhetorical. Certainly no one could make such a claim. Those who would deny that there are difficult scriptures either do not spend much time in the Word or they are simply dishonest. I am not sure which of the two is worse.
From simple questions about where Cain's wife came from, to more complex issues such as the apparent misquote in Matthew 27:9-10; there are literally scores of passages where there seems to be confusion. In some instances it is seems almost impossible to reconcile what is being said with other portions of scripture.
In ministry, it would be relatively easy to avoid the difficulties and not bring attention to them at all. Who would know? And if the Bible was just a book written by men, Biblicists such as me might be inclined to do just that. But the Bible is not just a book. It is the transmitted thoughts and will of Almighty God. It is the Word (and words) of God. It is the final and only authority on truth and fact.
Many have attacked it. Many have tried to prove it false, and in so doing, have been converted by its awesome power and authority. Men will claim that it is full of contradictions, but are not able to point out a single example to support their argument.
Knowing there are those who would jump at the chance to find problems in scripture should not make believers apprehensive or shy in declaring it the plenary word of the Living God. Nor should we refrain from using those portions we feel might pose difficulties to explain. Too often Bible teachers will avoid passages in their sermons and lessons because they imagine there is conflict in what the scripture says.
Difficulty in understanding a passage does not discredit what is being said. Rather it reflects on the knowledge level of the one who sees it as difficult. The fact that we cannot immediately understand or explain the difficulty away does not mean it cannot be solved with proper research and prayer. Sometimes that research takes a long time, but this is the case with almost anything that one wants to learn. I may not understand what the mechanic is telling me about needed vehicle repairs, but I could learn mechanics myself and gain that understanding if I was willing to make the effort.
In my formative years as a Christian, I came across many difficult or hard to understand passages in my studies. Indeed, some of what I read seemed illogical, perhaps even impossible and they tested my faith. Yet I trusted the authority of scripture and accepted it as truth. Years later, with a more sound knowledge of scripture, those same passages posed absolutely no difficulty to me whatsoever. With experience and broader familiarity with scripture, the once difficult passages became very easy to understand.
The Apostle Paul spoke of the "milk" and "meat" of the word. Christians must start out with the milk or easier-to-digest things of God before they are ready to consume the meatier things. It is the superficial or inexperienced reader who adds calamity to a difficult verse. They read something they do not understand and panic. Too often young Christians get bogged down trying to understand something that they simply are not capable of grasping at their present knowledge level. Sometimes spiritual anxiety over such small issues completely consumes them and they run around like Chicken Little declaring that their faith is falling.
The seasoned, faithful reader of the Bible knows that understanding will come in time after appropriate effort is invested in researching the perceived difficulty. They have been down this road before. They have come up against seemingly unexplainable passages that subsequent studies explained. There is always an explanation. God's Word is always correct and without conflict or contradiction.
I am not trying to diminish the fact that there are very difficult passages of scripture that are problematic to the student of scripture. II Peter 3:16 confirms this. We are told:
"As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures…"
God openly tells us through the Apostle Peter that some of the things written in the Bible are hard to be understood and we wrestle with them. Why are they hard? Is it because God purposely wanted to hide something from us? Is it because God wants to play a game of cat and mouse with his higher knowledge? No. God does not play games. He wants us to understand, but that understanding must come when we are ready for strong meat. Believers must go through a growing process. Verse 18 of this chapter confirms this:
"But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
In keeping with all the other passages that tell us to "study", "prepare" or "learn", we are told to "grow in grace". The only way to grow in grace is to read the manual (the Bible) faithfully and consistently, building ourselves up in knowledge and understanding.
Increasing our knowledge in the Bible is like any other thing we learn - we must study and learn in order to grow and excel. That is precisely why it is important to not shy away from difficult passages. We need to learn what they mean. If we shy away from them, our confidence in the word will wane and our regimen for study will eventually wane as well.
There really are no difficult passages. There is just a lack of understanding of those passages. This can be remedied through faithful study. The wisest advice I ever received from a man of God I would like to pass on here. He said "Put your nose in the book and keep your eyes on Jesus." The meaning is clear; study and trust the Lord to bring you to a place of understanding.
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The author is a retired Coast Guard Officer with over 32 years of service. He is also a Baptist Preacher and Bible Teacher. He helps those grieving the loss of a pet to understand the Biblical evidence that proves they live on. His most popular book, "Cold Noses at the Pearly Gates" delivers hope and comfort to the reader in a very gentle, yet convincing way. Visit at http://www.coldnosesbook.com for more information and tips.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Physical Daddies and Spiritual Daddies
Physical Daddies and Spiritual Daddies by Bishop Eddie L. Long
All of us have been birthed by a physical daddy. A good many of us have been lost because of what happened with the relationship of our physical daddy. There has to be a birthing of a spiritual daddy that brings you into everything God has ordained for you.
We have been stifled in this because instead of operating in the covenant order of God, we are suspicious that someone’s trying to take advantage of us. The covenant between the pastor and the congregation is unique. It is not based on a friendship, not exterior performance, but inside. You are in covenant with God because of something inside. It’s spiritual. Don’t worry about the church being so large that you can’t shake the pastor’s hand. There are a plenty of folk who can shake your hand, but not too many can speak to your spirit. It is a spiritual covenant. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away
the foreskins of your hearts. (Jeremiah 4:4)
This does not refer to a physical circumcision. When you hear the word of God, you know there are things God is trying to pull from your heart. For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me. (I Corinthians 4:15-16)
The pastor is but a vessel that God uses to tell you what He has to tell you, to circumcise your flesh, so that you do not continue to carry around the things that are not of God. If you do, and those things are not circumcised, your flesh will get infected. The biggest problem in the church is when God allows the church father (pastor) to come do circumcision, but the congregation does not allow it. Tell me about being blessed but don’t tell me to stop fornicating, they say. For God to allow your inheritance and blessings to flow to you, there has to be a circumcision. There needs to be a mark on your spiritual life so that people can tell that you are a son of God.
Understand that there has to be order and covenant. Maintain the spiritual relationship, the order, the covenant, so that you will receive your due inheritance.
About The Author:
Bishop Eddie L. Long is an acclaimed teacher, entrepreneur, author, and modern day prophet to the nations. He currently serves as Senior Pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia just outside Atlanta. Visit him at http://www.bellministries.org or go to NewBirth.org
All of us have been birthed by a physical daddy. A good many of us have been lost because of what happened with the relationship of our physical daddy. There has to be a birthing of a spiritual daddy that brings you into everything God has ordained for you.
We have been stifled in this because instead of operating in the covenant order of God, we are suspicious that someone’s trying to take advantage of us. The covenant between the pastor and the congregation is unique. It is not based on a friendship, not exterior performance, but inside. You are in covenant with God because of something inside. It’s spiritual. Don’t worry about the church being so large that you can’t shake the pastor’s hand. There are a plenty of folk who can shake your hand, but not too many can speak to your spirit. It is a spiritual covenant. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away
the foreskins of your hearts. (Jeremiah 4:4)
This does not refer to a physical circumcision. When you hear the word of God, you know there are things God is trying to pull from your heart. For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me. (I Corinthians 4:15-16)
The pastor is but a vessel that God uses to tell you what He has to tell you, to circumcise your flesh, so that you do not continue to carry around the things that are not of God. If you do, and those things are not circumcised, your flesh will get infected. The biggest problem in the church is when God allows the church father (pastor) to come do circumcision, but the congregation does not allow it. Tell me about being blessed but don’t tell me to stop fornicating, they say. For God to allow your inheritance and blessings to flow to you, there has to be a circumcision. There needs to be a mark on your spiritual life so that people can tell that you are a son of God.
Understand that there has to be order and covenant. Maintain the spiritual relationship, the order, the covenant, so that you will receive your due inheritance.
About The Author:
Bishop Eddie L. Long is an acclaimed teacher, entrepreneur, author, and modern day prophet to the nations. He currently serves as Senior Pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia just outside Atlanta. Visit him at http://www.bellministries.org or go to NewBirth.org
Monday, April 2, 2007
Don't Forget to Remember to Forget
Don't Forget to Remember to Forget by Gary Kurz
One of the greatest aspects of God's forgiveness for sins in Christ is the fact that he also forgets them. We have the assurance that he remembers our sins no more. He purposely and permanently puts them out of his memory and never revisits them.
We can conclude from God's example, that sometimes it is better to forget than to remember. It is apparent that Joseph understood this as Moses records in Genesis 41:51 "And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget…."
Joseph had suffered many terrible injustices in his young life. His own brothers hated him for no reason and sold him into slavery. He was accused of a crime he did not commit. He was thrown into prison for an undetermined amount of time. Surely Joseph could have been justifiably bitter. He could have lamented over all that had befallen him. He could have resented that God allowed great adversity and suffering in his life.
Instead, Joseph reached down inside of himself, where his faith was housed, and found the strength to persevere. In faith, with a grateful heart, he named his son Manasseh, which means "forgetting". He reasoned "for God…hath made me forget". The things that had befallen him could have weighed heavily on his heart, but God had given him grace to not only forgive the wrongs that were done to him, but to forget them.
A Pastor I knew sold an automobile to a man. He received half the payment upfront, with the remainder to follow a month later. When he went to the man's house to receive the second and final installment, the man said "I am not paying you another dime. I have the car and I am keeping it". He then slammed the door in the Pastor's face.
Several parishioners advised the Pastor to take legal action. A lawyer friend offered to take the case to Small Claims Court without charging the Pastor for his services. The Pastor politely declined and explained that the few thousand dollars owed did not outweigh the worth of the man's soul and that it was better to forgive and forget the debt than to injure his Christian testimony to the man.
Several months later, this Pastor was called upon to help a needy family in the community. It turned out to be the family of the man who had misappropriated his automobile. When the door opened to the Pastor's knock, the man immediately recognized him and expected that the Pastor might recognize him and turn around and leave.
Instead, the humble man of God greeted him with a warm smile and brief embrace. As the Pastor reached into his pocket for the church check, he looked into the man's face and hesitated for a moment. The man thought that surely the Pastor had just recognized him and had changed his mind about helping. He knew this was a bad idea, asking the man he had cheated to help. He might as well just tell him to leave.
Before the man could speak however, the Pastor said in a soothing voice, "You know, I just don't think my church is doing enough to help. Please allow me to add my personal check to this amount. I am sure you and your family can use it."
As the Pastor wrote out another check, the man fell under heavy conviction and wondered what to say. Surely this Pastor was trying to make him feel guilty. Surely this act of kindness was nothing more than a ploy to work on his conscience.
While the man was pondering these things, the Pastor finished writing the check out and handed both checks to him. The Pastor then asked if he could pray for the family. The man knew that the prayer was going to be a sermon in disguise about fairness and doing right, but he did not know how to say "no" after the kindness he was shown; and so he reluctantly acknowledged "sure, that would be okay."
The Pastor bowed his head and asked the Lord's blessing upon the man, his family and their home. He asked the Lord to bless them financially and to lead the church to know if there was anything else they could do for them. He closed by asking the Lord to draw this family near to him. There was no mention of the automobile, no sermon, no ulterior motive. It was as if the Pastor had completely forgotten the wrong this man had done to him.
A few weeks later, the man and his family came to visit the church that had paid their debts. They heard the gospel message. They heard how the Lord Jesus Christ had paid another debt that they had not even known about. The whole family walked the aisle and received the Lord.
Like Joseph, this Pastor had emulated his Lord and added forgetfulness to his forgiveness. Had he held on to the terrible injustice this man had done, he would never have been able to be a witness to the love and mercy of the Lord. By forgetting, God was able to use him in a tremendous way
Forgetting should be a word used often in the Christian vocabulary. It is far better to forget and forgive than it is to remember and resent.
The author is a retired Coast Guard Officer with over 32 years of service. He is also a Baptist Preacher and Bible Teacher. He helps those grieving the loss of a pet to understand the Biblical evidence that proves they live on. His most popular book, "Cold Noses at the Pearly Gates" delivers hope and comfort to the reader in a very gentle, yet convincing way. Visit at http://www.coldnosesbook.com for more information and tips or write to Gary at petgate@aol.com.
Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com
One of the greatest aspects of God's forgiveness for sins in Christ is the fact that he also forgets them. We have the assurance that he remembers our sins no more. He purposely and permanently puts them out of his memory and never revisits them.
We can conclude from God's example, that sometimes it is better to forget than to remember. It is apparent that Joseph understood this as Moses records in Genesis 41:51 "And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget…."
Joseph had suffered many terrible injustices in his young life. His own brothers hated him for no reason and sold him into slavery. He was accused of a crime he did not commit. He was thrown into prison for an undetermined amount of time. Surely Joseph could have been justifiably bitter. He could have lamented over all that had befallen him. He could have resented that God allowed great adversity and suffering in his life.
Instead, Joseph reached down inside of himself, where his faith was housed, and found the strength to persevere. In faith, with a grateful heart, he named his son Manasseh, which means "forgetting". He reasoned "for God…hath made me forget". The things that had befallen him could have weighed heavily on his heart, but God had given him grace to not only forgive the wrongs that were done to him, but to forget them.
A Pastor I knew sold an automobile to a man. He received half the payment upfront, with the remainder to follow a month later. When he went to the man's house to receive the second and final installment, the man said "I am not paying you another dime. I have the car and I am keeping it". He then slammed the door in the Pastor's face.
Several parishioners advised the Pastor to take legal action. A lawyer friend offered to take the case to Small Claims Court without charging the Pastor for his services. The Pastor politely declined and explained that the few thousand dollars owed did not outweigh the worth of the man's soul and that it was better to forgive and forget the debt than to injure his Christian testimony to the man.
Several months later, this Pastor was called upon to help a needy family in the community. It turned out to be the family of the man who had misappropriated his automobile. When the door opened to the Pastor's knock, the man immediately recognized him and expected that the Pastor might recognize him and turn around and leave.
Instead, the humble man of God greeted him with a warm smile and brief embrace. As the Pastor reached into his pocket for the church check, he looked into the man's face and hesitated for a moment. The man thought that surely the Pastor had just recognized him and had changed his mind about helping. He knew this was a bad idea, asking the man he had cheated to help. He might as well just tell him to leave.
Before the man could speak however, the Pastor said in a soothing voice, "You know, I just don't think my church is doing enough to help. Please allow me to add my personal check to this amount. I am sure you and your family can use it."
As the Pastor wrote out another check, the man fell under heavy conviction and wondered what to say. Surely this Pastor was trying to make him feel guilty. Surely this act of kindness was nothing more than a ploy to work on his conscience.
While the man was pondering these things, the Pastor finished writing the check out and handed both checks to him. The Pastor then asked if he could pray for the family. The man knew that the prayer was going to be a sermon in disguise about fairness and doing right, but he did not know how to say "no" after the kindness he was shown; and so he reluctantly acknowledged "sure, that would be okay."
The Pastor bowed his head and asked the Lord's blessing upon the man, his family and their home. He asked the Lord to bless them financially and to lead the church to know if there was anything else they could do for them. He closed by asking the Lord to draw this family near to him. There was no mention of the automobile, no sermon, no ulterior motive. It was as if the Pastor had completely forgotten the wrong this man had done to him.
A few weeks later, the man and his family came to visit the church that had paid their debts. They heard the gospel message. They heard how the Lord Jesus Christ had paid another debt that they had not even known about. The whole family walked the aisle and received the Lord.
Like Joseph, this Pastor had emulated his Lord and added forgetfulness to his forgiveness. Had he held on to the terrible injustice this man had done, he would never have been able to be a witness to the love and mercy of the Lord. By forgetting, God was able to use him in a tremendous way
Forgetting should be a word used often in the Christian vocabulary. It is far better to forget and forgive than it is to remember and resent.
The author is a retired Coast Guard Officer with over 32 years of service. He is also a Baptist Preacher and Bible Teacher. He helps those grieving the loss of a pet to understand the Biblical evidence that proves they live on. His most popular book, "Cold Noses at the Pearly Gates" delivers hope and comfort to the reader in a very gentle, yet convincing way. Visit at http://www.coldnosesbook.com for more information and tips or write to Gary at petgate@aol.com.
Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com
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