Beware of those quoting scripture.

[dverna]

Yesterday, those were the words of our Pastor.

Our Pastor made this point. "Scripture may be quoted out of context to justify almost any position". And he included himself in that warning!!!

The message is to study the Bible. When someone quotes scripture, go to The Book and read. Understand what was written and the context of what was actually said.

BTW, I do that a lot, and have experienced this practice of "deception". I wonder if those pastors who do it "dumb down" to the lowest common denominator of the congregation in order to make their point, or are deceptive on purpose.

Then there is the other problem of those who "interpret" what is clearly said in the Bible to twist the message "so we understand what was meant".

Ephesians is ripe with examples.

[Thundarstick]

Mat 4:5-6

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’

Scripture quoting, done by an expert! Yes context is everything. If you don't understand who it was written to, why it was written to them, and the context it was written in, you can get real confused, real quick!

[Hogtamer]

Nice point Tstick. Don, I doubt you will hear deliberate deception from the pulpit but ignorance can be deceiving in itself, both to speaker and listener. Learning to "feed yourself" the Word of life is imperative for believers of the Gospel of Christ. Lately I've taken to the New Living Translation side by side with the New King James version. It helps, particularly with the Pauline letters to better grasp the context. Tell most folks you shoot 3 1/8 x 1 1/8 #8s for trap. How many would understand? Well, lets's see, the first number expresses the dram equivalent of black powder although they are not black powder loaded. Then you must explain what a dram is even though it's archaic now and we measure smokless powder in grains.....and on and on. So Paul wrote that we are to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Are we to take from that salvation is not from God but dependent on what kind of deal we work with God? Of course not. And BTW, it's encouraging to see you reading, questioning, learning scipture. Paraphrasing Paul from 1st Corinthians 13, "we know in part and prophecy in part, but eventually face-to-face with God we shall know as we are known." Yes, we will know it all one day when we are finally and fully conformed to the image of Christ himself!

[Hickory]

I am sometimes amazed of the Biblical beliefs I sometimes read here.
I am not always right, but, I don't rely on teachings other than the Bible.
There are a lot of books out there by people who will give you THEIR spin on what the Word of God means or says.
Don't let Gods Words fall amongst the rocks or let them be crowded out by the weeds of this world.
Study to show yourself approved before God.

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Yesterday, those were the words of our Pastor.

Our Pastor made this point. "Scripture may be quoted out of context to justify almost any position". And he included himself in that warning!!!

The message is to study the Bible. When someone quotes scripture, go to The Book and read. Understand what was written and the context of what was actually said.

BTW, I do that a lot, and have experienced this practice of "deception". I wonder if those pastors who do it "dumb down" to the lowest common denominator of the congregation in order to make their point, or are deceptive on purpose.

Then there is the other problem of those who "interpret" what is clearly said in the Bible to twist the message "so we understand what was meant".

Ephesians is ripe with examples.

A very good example of why Scripture and Tradition are necessary to keep each other on track. Like two oars rowing a boat.

[Conditor22]

And he who sits in the heavens laughs.

[owejia]

Years ago there was a church that did a Bible Study on tv every Sunday morning. They would quote words from different verses and combine them to make their point, always seemed odd, as you can combine words to make any statement say anything.

[Thunder Stick]

Back around 1980, I was very confused by radio and TV preachers. I turned off those "devices" grabbed my Bible and read it cover to cover for myself. I finally understood and my confusion was gone. It was mostly about who various preachers said that Jesus Christ is. God? Man? Son of God? Son of David? Seed of the woman? Holy Spirit was definately guiding me to seek and learn.

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you." - John 16:13-14

[Markopolo]

We are all responsible for our personal relationship with God. Not the tv pastor, or the radio, but we ourselves will stand before God. God speaks to us through His word, amoung other ways. We are responsible for that. We should not be spoon fed milk once a week, but be fed real meat each day. First fruits of our days. We can’t put that on somebody else. We alone are responsible for knowing what the word says and hide it in our heart. Church is for the gathering of the saints, and is not the place of our daily relationship. That lives with God, in our hearts.

Marko

[1hole]

I have learned little from those who already agree with me, I find no challenge in learning anything new that way. BUT, when I hear/read people who say, "The Bible says ....." without being able to cite book/chapter/verse always make me back off a bit. I listen carefully to people who refer to specific verses but I'll still go to the Book and read the reference in context to be sure the speaker isn't totally deluded.

Thing is, good people can be badly deceived by a lack of correct Bible knowledge. Any supposed Christian group claiming to have seperate books (Mormons, Jehovah Witness, Christian Science, 7th Day Adventists, Uniterian, ...) or special church "traditions" that run contrary to scripture (Roman Catholic) make me run for cover. I hurt for and pray for those good and well meaning people who are trying as hard as they can to get it right but still miss the mark so badly. (I turn none of them away from my front door without at least trying to break through the deceptions but, in spite of my invitations, they rarely come back.)

God help us all!