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I’m Not Lost-Just getting Directions from the Bible

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I have a new excerpt from the book “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.” The excerpt is about six blind men and what they “saw.”

The book “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World,” reaches out to those who may be suffering from anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, self-doubt, hopelessness, and the many other usual suspects.

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You can order the book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World, by clicking on the “Bookstore,” tab at the top of this page.

The price for the book is $19.99 in the bookstores, but on this site it is only $15.99. The shipping has been cut in half as well. A total savings of over $6.00.

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Chapter 33

 

I’m Not Lost—Just Getting Directions from the Bible

 

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”

John 11:25–26 (emphasis mine)

 

Six blind men were told to feel an elephant and tell what they thought it was.

The first blind man felt the elephant’s ears and thought it was a fan.

The second blind man felt the elephant’s side and thought it was a wall.

The third blind man felt the elephant’s trunk and thought it was a rope.

The fourth blind man felt the elephant’s leg and thought it was a tree.

The fifth blind man felt the elephant’s tusk and thought it was a spear.

The sixth blind man felt the elephant’s tail and thought it was a snake.

 

This is how many people approach religious doctrine. All can look in the same book—the Bible—and see something different, often based on preconceived notions. Or, very much like the blind men, each sees only a portion of what’s in God’s Word and draws his own conclusions, usually erroneous, about the whole. The danger, of course, is that they come away basing their entire theology on one isolated Scripture instead of seeing the entirety of the written Word of God.

There are people in the church who feel the elephant and come away with a different idea of how their faith is to be expressed. They read the Bible and pick out sections they think pertain to them and follow that thought to the point of forming a new church. That is OK within a certain framework. Different church groups have different worship styles, different ways of governing themselves, and other differences.

But they all need to have one goal: To let people know that the only true way to heaven is to accept Jesus into your heart. He is the only way to God there is. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

You will never find a perfect church. Each church will have its negative aspects. If you aren’t going to church because you are looking for the perfect church, you will be looking forever.

 

You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:  “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”

Matthew 15:7–9

 

Further Adventures

Try to stick to what the Bible says, and not what others say the Bible says. People can twist the wording of the Bible to mean what they think they want it to mean. The words will never change. People change.

 

Something to Ponder

Isn’t it funny how so many of the church members of today argue over what the right doctrine is, and yet they are all walking in the same direction?

 

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Going to Church Doesn’t Make you a Christian

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I have another excerpt for you today, from my book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.”  It tells us that going to church doesn’t make you a Christian. It’s what you do while you are there that does.

The book reaches out to those who may be suffering from anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, self-doubt, hopelessness, and the many other usual suspects.

The book is on sale right now at this site. It sells for $19.99 in the retail stores, but on this site it is only $15.99, and the shipping has been cut in half as well. A total savings of over $6.00.

Just click on the “Bookstore,” tab at the top of this page and check it out.

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Chapter 32

 

Going to Church Doesn’t Make You a Christian Any More than

Going to McDonalds Makes You a Hamburger

 

In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.

1 Corinthians 11:18–19

 

So many people go to church and criticize what is going on there. They think they have the perfect plan to reach out to others. They may be right in some ways, but we must never think that our ways are the only ways. God knows those who are truly members of the body of Christ and He wants those He has gifted for the task do the true leading of the church.

I have been going to church for many years. Does that make me a Christian? Some people think attending church is all you need to do to make it to heaven. The answer is, of course not.

I have seen churchgoers come to church Sunday after Sunday and then go home, tell filthy jokes to their friends, use profanity on a regular basis, and be bigoted about minority groups. Jesus would not do these things if He were on earth today. He accepted everyone—even those on the fringes of mainstream society. He would be gentle and frown on those who used language not acceptable by God’s standard.

The formula is very clear: We need to develop four habits to be a strong Christian after we have accepted Jesus into our hearts.

1. Read the Bible

2. Pray

3. Tithe (give back to God)

4. Fellowship with other believers

 

1.         Read the Bible. I don’t mean scanning it for a certain verse. I don’t mean reading only the chapter the message or lesson is about. And I don’t mean reading it only when there is a crisis. I mean we need to continue to read God’s Word—every day.

I realize this may be a tough task, with all of the hustle and bustle in today’s busy world. But most of us find time to read the newspaper. (There are much more exciting stories in the Bible—and they are all true.) We should be able to read a few verses in the Bible daily to get draw closer to God. It’s all a matter of priorities.

It’s so much easier for me to remain close to God when I’m consistently reading the Bible. I’ve read it through a couple of times already and every time I read it again, I find things I hadn’t seen before. 

Joining a Bible study group (Bible Study Fellowship1) has been great for me. The rewards are more than I can explain. I love sharing the verses we’re assigned to read each week. Imagine ten to twelve men/women all commenting on the same verses. The different insights help me understand what the words really mean. I enjoy the time, and I know that I have to study each week if I want to take part in the discussion. I need the commitment to study each night. It helps me to stay on task.

 

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16–17

 

2.         Pray. This is the close encounter with God that we need every day. I can’t emphasize this more strongly than to say that prayer works! Some people say, “I prayed for weeks, and nothing happened.” God hears those prayers. He is listening, but we must remember that God answers prayers on His timetable and not on ours. God may decide that what we’re praying for is not what He wants for us. He will answer our prayers in a way that will help us understand why He moved in the direction He did. We may see that it was good that things worked out the way they did. God loves us, and He wants the best for us. When we pray, He listens, and then He helps us out in a way that He feels is best for us.

When I prayed for God to help me write this book several years ago is just one example of how He answers our prayers.

 

Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him.

Psalm 4:3

 

3.         Tithe. I’m the first to admit that I was very slow in getting around to tithing to God. I know that I need to give more to my church. I give every time there is an offering, but I am talking about a full commitment of giving 10% of your earnings to God each month. This is a difficult commitment for many people—me included.

God has blessed me a great deal, and I want to show Him how much I care for Him by giving back some of the money He has provided for me. (It’s all His anyway!)

I have had some very good times through tithing. When I was first married and we had some little rug rats running around the house, I tithed. It was tough because we weren’t making a lot of money back then. The amazing part of those times was that the bills still got paid and we still had money for clothes. We often got a check in the mail that we weren’t expecting. It might be a rebate or refund that we forgot was coming.

There were also times when a note with the bill said, “You may skip paying this month.” It was the timing that was wonderful. It seemed that every time we received a check, it was in the month that was very tight for us. God provided for us. He feeds even the little sparrows, doesn’t He?

 

Be sure to set aside a tenth of all your fields produce each year. Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always.

Deuteronomy 14:22–23

 

4.         Fellowship. I feel this is the most important part of being a Christian. There was a time (before March 21st, 2001) that I didn’t think I needed to go to church to grow as a Christian. I felt that some of the so-called Christians in church weren’t Christians anyway. (You know what? That is true, but it’s not the point to me anymore.)  

The point is that me, myself, and I—all three of us—need to be in church to continue to grow! It doesn’t matter if some of the members are not acting like Christians. What does matter is how I act and the state of my relationship with God. I can’t think of a better place to grow as a Christian. The lessons I learn from what I hear in the sermons are very valuable and can teach me how to cope during the next week.

 

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hebrews 10:25

 

Further Adventures

Becoming a fully developed (mature) Christian takes a lot of work and effort. Try to build each one of the four aspects into your walk with God. It may take a while, but you will feel the love of God in you grow as you add each one.

 

Something to Ponder

Isn’t it funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have to believe anything the Bible says?

 

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What Should I look For When I go to Church?

I would like to invite you to sign-up for the RSS feed to this site. You will then get a notice every time I post. It also helps this site to move up the Google Search Rankings. Just click on the icon right after the title to do that.

__________________________________________________________

The book “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World,” Is now on sale on this site. In the stores it is $19.99, but if you order here it is only $15.99. The shipping has been cut in half as well. A total savings of over $6.00. Just click on the “Bookstore,” tab at the top of this page.

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I have another excerpt to share with you. I hope you have been enjoying them.

Today’s excerpt is about how some people are religious nuts and actually harm the vision people see of Christianity.

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God Wants Spiritual Fruit, Not Religious Nuts

 

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

Acts4:12

 

You’ve seen them after football games, or after basketball games. They stand on the corners yelling that the world is a sinful place, and you had better repent. Although I’ve always admired their courage, it seems like the people around me think of them as religious nuts.

There are so many types of beliefs out there that claim to be Christian. There are those who believe we need to be baptized before we are a Christian. There are those who feel God will heal without doctors. There are some who will not allow their children to be part of Halloween, Fourth of July, birthdays and many other things. Some go to church on Sundays. Some go to church on Saturdays.

But the Bible’s bottom line is: What we need to believe in is that Jesus died for us and that the only way we are able to get to heaven is through Him. We need to let Him into our heart and be born again.

There are many beliefs that agree with that basic premise, but then they twist things around to fit their doctrine. Some come from the far left, and some come from the far right. Who is right—the far left, or the far right?

Again I am here to tell you that we have one goal for our souls: to believe that Christ died for us, and we need to accept Him into our hearts.

So, whether you’re from the far left or the far right, stop fighting over who is right and get on your knees to thank the only Savior we should be talking about. You do not need to be a religious nut to gain spiritual fruit.

            Left … Right … Left … Right … Left … Right

We’re marching to the wrong tune!

 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the roadthat leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and a few find it.

Matthew 7:13–14

 

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

Romans 2:1

 

Further Adventures

I would like to suggest that you not go to church looking for a specific doctrinal stand. You’ll be overwhelmed when you find there are hundreds of different nuances to doctrine. Look instead at what is being taught. Is the Bible read during the service? Does the pastor preach from the Bible? Or does he have his own agenda? Some church leaders spend the whole service talking about current events and their views on them. That is not what God intended. He wants us to study His Word and not conform to this world’s standards in our daily living. If you find a Bible-teaching church, try it for awhile and see if it is a good fit for you.

 

Something to Ponder

Isn’t it funny how we are so quick to judge, but not eager to be judged?