Understanding the Bible
Quotes:
1. "Doubt is not the absence of faith - certainty is!" Karen Armstrong
therefore
2. "It is impossible to be a true Christian and not have doubts!" Brian Johnston
3. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8) ...
Introduction:
I’ll start off simple just for you though most of us are slow,
And note I’m quoting Bible too, some things you “think” you know.
Don’t be ashamed of ignorance, although you feel it starkly,
The “glass through which all seekers peer, is only seen through darkly.”
The fact is Bible gets short shrift, we all see that is true,
Humility’s more joke than prayer, that’s hard to misconstrue.
The gift from God with least appeal, if not God’s Grace, is Science,
But both need study, discipline, on which few place reliance.
Two pillars of man knowing Him are science, word of God,
But spend much time with either one, and you’re considered odd!
Both frequently are party talk, though some get dosed on Sunday,
And fewer still will turn to Science, “meet” postponed to someday.
More Quotes:
3. In my opinion, if a man cannot reconcile Science and the Bible (both gifts
from God), it is perhaps a reasonable assumption that he does not understand
the Bible in the way God intended. Should we be humbler in presuming that we
know the intention of the mind of God? Understanding Science (a tiny piece of
God’s mind) is tough enough! Brian Johnston
4. Too many people fear to question God. Do YOU “suffer little children to come
unto you” or do you cast them aside when they ask questions? How can you
even imagine a God (you claim to love) would treat you so badly? Brian Johnston
Meditation 1: Garden of Eden
Let’s start where Bible picks it up in any depth at all,
Creation took just seven days, like man God heeds rest’s call.
Then God gave man dominion over all things found in garden
Green plant life to sustained them all, no birth, no death in Eden.
The Bible’s timeline, Science mocks, its proclamations wrong,
Birth, pain and death preceded man, must in God’s mind, belong.
A million years before man rose, were species born, extinguished,
Like them, the fossil records show, man’s time is undistinguished!
God seems OK (can you explain?) with many carnivores,
The dinosaurs, not mentioned too were part of Earth’s outdoors
So Eden’s looking quite pale now, God’s curse might not have happened,
Birth, pain and death are in HIS PLAN, but does that mean its cheapened?
Meditation 2: Noah’s Flood
Now Noah’s Ark is hard to grok if you hate fallacy,
You melt Earth’s water stored as ice, and still, there's land to see!
And all those creatures two by two, did Noah search world’s surface?
The questions loom so largely all their answers seem amorphous!
Meditation 3: Lazarus’ Resurrection
You listen to this story, and you know the Christ was there,
There is no magic sideshow, but Christ’s Love was everywhere,
Assures us “faith moves mountains” and that death is not worth airing,
Prepares us then to touch the cross that He’ll alone be bearing.
Conclusion:
The Christ took on His destiny to show what love looks like,
And none of us can ever KNOW what’s coming down the pike.
That “God is love,” that “soul is real,” ideas well worth sharing,
That “God is dead,” or “His word’s false,” just cracks that need repairing.
“Oh Father, please forgive them for they know not what they do!”
I wasn’t there, of course, my God, but all of this sounds true!
And we’re the ones He did it for; His words just keep on ringing!
And yes, there is some faith required, but that is what I’m bringing.
I know it smarts, He did it all, you’ve nothing left to earn,
Just open up your heart to Him, I know you’ll feel the burn!
“Creation,” “Noah,” fairy tales, both parables so simple?
It’s true, but weren’t you once a child? Let “Father” see that dimple!
Long Tooth
April 11, 2017
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