Interpretation Issues

31 May, 2009

Mick Christianity , , , , , 3 Comments

Do you ever hear people say that the Bible means different things to different people at different times?  I have heard this often times and want to address it.

First off–absolute truth.  If you do not first believe that there is absolute truth, then this discussion needs to start somewhere else.  But that is not the purpose of this blog, so for discussion sake we will assume that you already believe that.

So can we have different interpretations of the same writing?  I am going to have to say no.

If the Bible was written in such a way, then there would never be a correct way to read Scripture.  People would then be able to read whatever they want into the Scriptures and there would never be  a wrong or right.

Everything in the Bible was written for a specific meaning and it is up to us to find out what that meaning is.  We may be wrong at times, but that is okay (to a degree), we are all on this journey together.

The Worts of Worry

23 November, 2008

Mick Christianity , , , Leave a comment

I realize quite some time has passed since my last entry. My apologies go out to those of you who have come here several times only to find old content. So finally after a long break, here is something new.

Have you ever worried about anything? If you can say ‘no’ to that, then you are a much better human than myself. We all worry to some degree. You could almost say it is natural. But is it?
I think we can get so caught up with life that we forget about the most important thing; God. Matthew 6:25-34 says that He does not want us to worry, but rather cast all of our anxieties to Him. It gets tough at times, especially when it concerns those we love.
But honestly think about it. What good is it to worry? Worrying does not help pay the bills, it doesn’t help us find a new job, it can’t stop someone from hurting you, and it most certainly does not help the Cubs win a World Series. The only good worry does to anyone is… well… I don’t know.
I challenge you the next time you start to get anxious about something to think about how much God has blessed you. Instead of focusing on the negative (or potentially negative), focus on what God has blessed you with and let him know how greatful you truly are.

Reading the Bible

3 September, 2008

Mick My Thoughts , , , , , , Leave a comment

Reading through the Bible
from cover-to-cover is something that I always wanted to do, and this year I decided to actually start doing so.  I have probably read the entire thing, just
not from beginning to end.  The journey has proven to be quite the
adventure.

Every Monday at our staff meetings, we report how many
days we have read during the past week.  It is a way we can keep one
another accountable.  It also puts in emphasis on the importance of
going to God and Scripture for personal devotion, something we all value as a staff.

Many times when
working for a church, or especially during Bible College, the Bible
just becomes a resource for work or class.  There is great value in
that time and research, but reading apart from work and school is
critical to have a good relationship with Jesus.

That being said, my strategy has helped so far.  I just decided to read from beginning
to end so that I never sit down and wonder what I am going to read
next.  Today I should be finishing 2 Chronicles and moving on to Ezra,
which I am looking forward to.

By reading from the beginning, you can really see the relationship between God and people shift dynamically.  God always wants the best for his people, but those people do not always care.

Why write about this?  I am not
trying to say that I am better than everyone else because I read
daily.  I am writing because I want everyone to know how beneficial it
is to read.  There are times that I do not really get what is going
on.  And there are times that I am hardly focused.  But I have no
doubts that God will bless that time set apart to read Scripture.

Everyone should be in Scripture and prayer day to day.  The value is immeasurable.

I Ride My Bike

6 May, 2008

Mick My Thoughts , , , , Leave a comment

Owning a bike again has proven to be quite enjoyable. Yesterday, a friend of mine and I went out for two hours on the local trails. At times we were able to ride side by side and talk about whatever is currently happening in our lives. Catching up is always a good thing. We were also able to enjoy some greenery now that Spring is here. It felt good to be outside riding again.

Some morning I would like to pack up my Bible and journal and then bike out to one of the parks and have some devotional time while the sun is rising. In order to accomplish this I would have to rise around 5:00am to beat the sun. It rises so early in this part of the country. Nature just has something that helps you connect with God. Possibly because he created it.

Today, I rode to the office. This would make sense economically with escalating gas prices, but my wife took the car because she had somewhere else to go later in the day, so we still unfortunately used the same amount of gas. I did, however, get some good exercise in the process. We hope to ride to office fairly often this summer for both of those reasons.

In the end, I am happy to own a bike once again.