Seems alot of people have gimmicks. It is to be found in every endeavor. For instance in the horse world : Quarter horses are better, no Arabs are better, no Warm bloods are better, no Thorough bloods are better. English is the way a horse would be ridden, no it is Aussie style, no it is Western. A true performance horse is a dressage horse, no it is a reining cow horse, no it is a jumper, no it is a three day eventer....
....well you get my point, so what does that have to do with this section of the forum?
It seems many have religious gimmicks : The only right way to worship is on Saturday, no it is Sunday, no it is every day. His correct name is Jesus, no it is Yeshua, no it doesn't matter. The only right way to read the Bible is in the King James, no it is the original Hebrew and Greek, no it is best to read them all. Calvinists really understand, no it is the Arminian who understands, no it is the Messianic Jew who understands.
Okay back to horses for a second; I love horses therefore appreciate all disciplines and styles of riding and all breeds of horses. Why, cause I love horses.
As for the Spiritual, I appreciate how God has individual relationships and interacts with different people different, Why? ..Cause I love God, and do my best to love people, and enjoy seeing God in them.
My real pet peeve is when religious people with religious gimmicks start spouting things that are not found in Scripture as if they were and therefore everyone else is wrong.
I think I can guarantee that if a person has a gimmick in which the think is the only correct way, they are most likely wrong.
Jesus Never said his way was the best or the only correct way. Jesus said "I am the way"
Agreed, however let's talk 'practical application'. I see Jesus talking politely with a Samaritian Women who had the wrong ideas about God. I see Jesus flaming the Pharisees who also had the wrong idea about God.
Do you think the difference between the two is more than plain ole hypocrisy?
The Bible is the Word of God, and God's people are responsible to study it and understand it, and more so as they grow as Christians.
John Calvin said that the best theologian was probably only 70% correct. None of us have a perfect understanding, but some of us have a MUCH better understanding than others.
You are calling bad theology "gimmicks" or are you calling anyone who takes a position someone who is using gimmicks?
We are responsible to study and know God's word.
We live in a time where most Christians have a very shallow understanding of the bible.
I think there are three things a Christian should focus on if they are going understand the Bible deeper, and more accurately as time goes on:
1. Learn the rules of interpretation.
first admit to yourself that YOU interpret the Bible when you read it. I have had to remind a few people on this group that they have no choice but to interpret the Bible. They actually believed they were not interpreting scripture as they read it!
One MAJOR reason so many Christians have so many wrong ideas about the Bible, is because they are ignorant of what the Body of Christ has decided for the last two thousand years.
We live in an anti-historical age, and so if you think what all your brothers and sisters in Christ have decided does not matter, then you need to drop your arrogance and humble yourself. The Holy Spirit is not your own person Quija board, and the collective wisdom of the church is MUCH wiser than YOU ARE!
For YEARS, I have run into people online who PRETEND they can critique the experts in Greek and Hebrew.
EVERY SINGLE TIME I ask, them what languages they are expert in, concerning the Bible, they are not only NOT experts, they are not even fluent in the languages!!
So, how about you Passed over, will you be the first to tell me that If I hand you a 3 by 5 card with a paragraph of Greek on it, will you be able to even read it?
Critiquing the translators is a game that you and every other person who tries it, is NOT QUALIFIED to play.
The Modern Day translations we have are excellent, and better than ever.
I used to be really confused about the purpose of scripture. I used to obsess over the bible in an unhealthy way, believing that you could not be in a relationship with God at all if you did not read the whole thing. But then I came to realize something: people have learned of the Gospel (only a small portion of whole scripture), and lived for years without full bibles, maintaining a life that is faithful and in love with Christ. True, most of them suffered for lack of knowledge, but the ones who truly wanted to know God more would pray and ask desparately for him to provide bibles, or to show them his will...
and he showed himself.
THE BIBLE IS ONLY A TOOL!
It is a thing which contains a letter from God to us, because we are corrupted by sin and need a physical object to represent God's thoughts and our thoughts. Then I began to realize, just a little bit, how much more important the personal relationship is. I think that every Christian forgets this at some point, and becomes distracted by worldly concerns, even involving scripture. WE CANNOT SAVE OURSELVES! No amount of scripture or arguing theology can improve our relationships with God if we are not willing to lay down our pride and seek him with our whole hearts: not just in scripture, but in action and prayer.
Just to satisfy my bible scholars: Pro 8:17 "I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me."
By all means, seek him diligently in scripture, but do not limit yourself to that method or become caught up in the silly arguments that have nothing to do with the actual relationship that YOU should have with God PERSONALLY.
