Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Salad bar theology

This Sunday we'll start a 13 week series on "Difficult Bible passages." Often it's tempting to have a "salad bar theology" as we read the Bible, that is picking and choosing what we like and don't like, want to believe and not believe. Sorry to disappoint some of you, but it doesn't work that way. Sure there may be passages of the Bible we don't like or don't understand, but we can't just dismiss them as "no longer applicable to today." God has a reason and a purpose for everything written in the Bible. A wise approach to the scriptures is to try and see God's character through an event or story that may make no sense to you.

This Sunday we'll review the creation account in Genesis 1-2:4. As I discussed this with Darren we agreed that if you don't believe in a God who has existed for ever, created the world and everything in it, then you'll for sure have difficulties with many Bible passages that follow. Foundational to our understanding of the entire Bible is the creation account, how it all started.

I pray that the introduction to our summer series this Sunday will lay that foundation that opens our minds to how God has worked throughout history.

It dawned on me the other day that many church going Christians want to debate certain passages from the Bible, yet have no problem coming to church on Easter and Christmas. Seems like everybody likes to go to church on these holidays...and yet we are teaching straight from the Bible that Jesus was born of a virgin and then later died and was resurrected. Wow! That's amazing. See what I'm saying? If you can believe that, then have faith that God will show you some keen insights into these scriptures we look at this summer.

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