Subject: I NEED A TRUE FRIEND THAT IS A CHRISTIAN |
Bible Note: Jeff, Sorry for being away so long I have been under duress remodeling the Master Bathroom. Ugh!!! Alright! I am hearing you when you say that truth is not foretold by some reaction we have to words spoken, or read. We have a reaction to words and ideas because they attach themselves to us via our God given gifts of empathy and imagination. Our minds can put us into the story of a Sermon so that we can get the flavor of the experiences of the stories being told in the bible. The way we respond to these stories is akin to having a heart to heart, open line, discussion with God. If an expositer, standing at the podium preaching the Sermon, is being true to his/her calling then the words being spoken are true and are intermingled with scripture from the bible. This makes the story come alive, so much so, that we might cry when we hear an expositor put more words on some simple truth like..."Pilate sent Jesus to be scourged". Matt 27:26 Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified. 3 Mark 15:15 Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified. 4 Luke 18:33 and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again." 5 John 19:1 Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. How simple a word is scourged. It takes a story teller to bring to life the magnitude of the whipping that the Roman soldiers gave Jesus. In Mel Gibsons movie "The Passion of The Christ" we got a feel for that magnitude. Audiences worldwide got choked-up and wept when watching that scene. And to think that 5-minute scene, in the movie, came from a little word... scourge. So knowing that a Sermon is an exposition of scripture, and knowing that our minds, if fed by daily bible reading, have scripture in storage areas that can be recalled, do we not then believe that the Holy Spirit can remind and guide our thinking to create connections between historical fact, from the bible, and current situations we are undergoing? Many times when that connection is made in my mind I feel a tingling sensation which I describe as "the hair on the back of my neck raising", or God-pimples. I know the difference, but you are right in correcting me, in regards to alluding to the idea that all hair raising events are God moments. But, never forget that Jesus taught as one having authority, not like the scribes or Pharisees. In this I mean that he taught in the way of parables which are for the express purpose of engaging the audiences minds and emotion so that the truth of what was being said could more easily be discerned or digested. These parables are part of what so confused the Pharisees. They could not easily cross compare the words of Jesus to their Jewish Religious texts. This made them call Jesus a false teacher or Beelzebub himself. All because he did not stay within their narrow textual boundaries. Guess what? The regular Joe on the street understood Jesus and could disern from Jesus' life, his truths, his parables, and his miracles that he was the Christ. And he/she was generally "un-edjoomacated". Truth is I think we are nearly saying the same thing??? Only in a different way. I don't mind at all being corrected because there is always the authority of Gods Word to tell me that in consulation a wise man is glad to take. You have been heard. Yours in Christ, Mark W Laine |