Ok, its Tuesday so let’s get right to it. Here’s the txts that didn’t make it up on the screen due to time constraints…etc.
txt: You can also get the Bible on your iPhone-if you’re cool enough to have one.
me: very true…but just mean for taunting me for being iPhone-less! Even if you are one of the “apple cult” you make a good point…the Bible is soooo accessible to us.
txt: what do we do with the naug hammie library?
me: Not sure what that is…I even googled it just now which I couldn’t have done live…I probably would have made a “smart” comment about only whispering in it so as not to piss off the naug hammie librarians. Seriously though, if it is (as I suspect) a library of “extra-biblical” writings…my position is that we don’t actually “do” what is in the Bible as we know it…instead we spend too much time in my opinion learning “Bible Trivia”…”extra books” won’t help us in that respect…
txt: ?. aldrich wrote: “for many Christians, their Bible knowledge goes far beyond their willingness to obey.”
me: yes! I think that’s true of most of us… we don’t need more information…we need a transformation!
txt: U have the key- it’s not only what u have but how u use it. People misuse tools often then blame the tools, makers of the tools etc.
me: Exactly…it seems pretty “simple” if you think of the Bible as a “tool” that God has graciously allowed us access to in the last few hundred years. Unfortunately far more people think of it (even if they don’t say this) as some sort of “magic” book…so they are trying to find the “magic” verse to fix their problems…the right “confession” to magically give them what they want/need. When people put their faith in the “book” instead of the one that the book was written about…it always leads to disapointment. God is not a “Genie in a bottle”. That’s Christina Aguilara…
txt: i think it may be a problem with the ones who “know” the Bible because they tend to judge too quickly and forget where they came from and the mistakes they have made.
me: Great point. Another area where I think the analogy of “Bible knowledge” being like money works really well. When people have a lot of money but remember “where they came from” they tend to want to use it to help others… (think Pursuit of Happyness). When people have a lot of money and think it makes them “better” than everyone else…it actually destroys them. (And makes them into huge Jerks!)
txt: When is actionchurch going to do have a study on the tribe of Judha.
me: We’ll get to that as soon as we have “mastered” all the teachings of Jesus like “love your neighbor”…”turn the other cheek”…”the first will be last”… I’m guessing…hmm…let me look at my calender…how about NEVER!
txt: How do you get others to believe that things work out with GOD without having bad influences affect them?
me: I’m afraid my answer is going to frustrate you a bit… You can’t. You can’t stop people from succumbing to bad influences. You can love them…pray for them…share the truth with them if they are interested..but you can’t “keep” anyone from doing the wrong thing. God’s Spirit is a very powerful force…but even the Spirit allows people to chose. God’s plan of free will sounds great…until you watch someone you care about use that “freedom” to destroy themselves.
Over and out…I love hearing from everyone! See ya next week.