Saturday, December 15, 2007

Is your church guilty of misquoting the Bible? Repost

This is just a repost from one of my earlier post back on Oct 30, 2007. I will be posting new post later today! enjoy



Here are a few items for you to do a google search on...

See if they are in the Bible!

The lion shall lay down with the lamb.
God helps those who help themselves.
Money is the root of all evil.

Once saved, always saved.
Spare the rod, spoil the child.
To thine ownself be true.
God works in mysterious ways.
Cleanliness is next to godliness
This too shall pass.

Pride comes before the fall.

Okay, there you have them. Ten well known sayings that many people think are in the Bible. Go ahead and click on each of the links and you will find that we as Christians have become biblically illiterate. As the overall theme of this blog will show you, our churches have fallen away from biblical preaching and teaching. We have used so many cliche's in our sermons that we have accepted them for the gospel truth.

When you are sitting in church listening to the pastor's sermon...
Are you truly listening to what he is saying?
Does his message truly line up with the Word of God?
Is he doing a verse by verse study on God's Word?
Is he telling you how very important it is to apply God's Word to your life?
(this is more than just the mere "claim" to be applying it to your life -- it is the actual adherence to God's Word)
Does your pastor "skip" over certain Scriptures that would imply the need to repent of certain sins?

While some of the sayings at the top of this blog do not have a major alignment problem with the original verse, it is important to understand why we need to be in God's Word daily. We need to be able to give an answer to everyone regarding our faith.

If you are finding that your pastor is using one line of Scripture to create a whole sermon based on jokes and stories, it is time to leave. True growth in your walk with Christ should show fruit. The fruit of repentance. The fruit of thanksgiving. You should be walking in the Way. Let your light shine before men. There are many Christians who are walking in the dark today. Won't you help them? Won't you pray for them? Won't you do something????

The ALARM has sounded! Get up and get out!! Your comfy chair will drag you down. Your nice warm house will lull you to sleep. It's cold out there! It's dark out there! And people are dying everyday with many of them headed for hell.

Unless you do something...

Has it hit you yet? Are you guilty of misquoting the Bible in an effort to show the world your knowledge? Is your church abusing the Scriptures? The Way to heaven is narrow and the road to destruction is extremely wide. What road are you on? What road is your neighbor on? Hey, have you even gotten on a road yet? Feeling a little luke-warm? Lift up your head and fix your eyes upon Jesus!
Read the Bible each and every day! Pray without ceasing! And be obedient to the One who has paid your fine!

While we are at it...
At the top of the blog are ten popular sayings and many of us have them memorized

Have you memorized the Ten Commandments yet?

The Ten Commandments
1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make any idols
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not lie.
10. You shall not covet
(Here's a test for you -- Does the wording I used in these Ten Commandments line up with Scripture?)

8 comments:

Roland said...

What should be the minimum number of verses one should use in a sermon then, I wonder.

pastorbrianculver said...

Not sure you can put an actual "number" to that question. I have heard too many pastor use the minimum of ONE and then build a whole story and lots of jokes around that one line of Scripture. By the time the service is over, you are scratching your head wondering "what did that line of Scripture have to do with the sermon?" I think it is necessary to use as many as necessary so that people leave church being edified in God's Word. There is so much harmony in the Scriptures to validate what the Bible says. The Word is True and when we lesson it to a bunch of stories then we are doing nothing more than telling "good night stories" to our kids to help them fall asleep with a smile on their face! Let's see, that did not answer your question did it...

Roland said...

No it didn't. And I'm glad. Because that could mean one would work. Like you, I like to see more. The more the better. But sometimes when the guy next to you is snoring, you wonder if could be more relevant. :)

pastorbrianculver said...

God's Word is plenty relevant. If the guy is snoring, I chalk it up to one of two things...
1. He did not get to sleep last night
2. God's Word just doesn't do anything for him.

I can't imagine falling asleep. Problem could be the pastor is speaking in a monotone voice. That will put anyone to sleep!

Roland said...

"Problem could be the pastor is speaking in a monotone voice."
:)
As a child, I wasn't saved. But I always seemed to be attentive to what the pastor said. Until the birth of my first child, and even months after, I was resistant. Eventually, I gave up.
And that was a good thing.
I noticed the latest post about the Spears sisters. You handled it very graciously. And we both know, that if there was hope for us....
I will be linking your page. (Even if your posts do ramble on 'monotonously' at times) :)

pastorbrianculver said...

MaYbE iT wOuLd HeLp If I wRoTe LiKe ThIs? OR I COULD YELL IT OUT TO EVERYONE! Thanks for the comments, I appreciate it very much.

Roland said...

I like your style and thoughts.
And keep with the 'monotony' It's much more readable.

pastorbrianculver said...

glad to hear you say that. You know how hard it is to type every other letter in capital case??