The Elusive Truth in God’s Word
*CONVERGENCE***
*(The dictionary has several definitions applicable to the word “convergence.” For my purposes in this essay, it simply means the joining together of factors on reaching a point of view.)*
I am very interested in Bible teachings. My interest is very intense. As elusive as truth can be when watching television news, pondering points of view on the Internet, or listening to an opinion expressed by a preacher, delving into the Bible can be even more challenging.
To be fair, I acknowledge that most of the people seem to be satisfied in simply quoting a few verses of scripture found in their favorite version or translation. This is better than never quoting scripture. However, many times these same verses are taken totally out of context. When that is the case, their truth is lost to the person doing the quoting and lost to the recipient of the quote.
What does this have to do with “convergence”? If you have something not true joining with something that is true, you render it of none effect. That is, nothing of lasting value is accomplished. For instance if you use the Bible to interpret world events, it will not produce a valid Christian view of any of the happenings.
I leave you with this: use due diligence when you turn to the Bible to examine or critique anything happening in the geo-political scene. Use the same special care when applying any verse of scripture to any situation.
It is simple enough to find the truth if you are willing to look. Your computer can be a good source to determine the actual meaning of words. If you are using the Old Testament, the computer can tell you about Hebrew, Aramaic, and other ancient languages. If you are using the New Testament, The same is true plus you will also have renderings of classical Greek, peasant Greek, and other derivations.
Energy expelled in Bible study may be the best exercise for these days.
*_By Dr. Paul Collins, Th.D._*
Dr. Collins,
I, too, am very interested in Bible teachings as I study and search for the truth in God’s Word.
I spent many years being like you describe as “most of the people” who are satisfied in simply quoting a few verses from their favorite translation. I may have unknowingly, had a “Sunday Christian” life style. I was in a group of society that was caught up with life in the fast lane, not having my priorities in order.
Then one day back in the nineties I was introduced to you, Dr. Collins. You were pastor of Prospect church in the Marshfield, Missouri rural community that I attended one Sunday. I was impressed with your teachings and began then to study more and even attended some of your group teaching classrooms.
As I began to relate my life to God’s word, I became more and more curious about some of God’s universal truths that I was introduced to in many self improvement seminars I attended. I began to discover how those truths could be found in the Bible; and yet I wondered if the seminar teachers were even aware of the Biblical truths they were teaching. So I began to nurture the habit of studying with the goal to find God’s truths from the secular world’s view of “how to prosper and succeed.”
Over time my bible studies grew into a desire to find the truth in those secular teaching about success, and share with others in my God’s Design for Man BLOG. In this blog I hope to shed the light of truth on many of the world’s tainted and sometimes just false claims about so called “universal truths of success,” as I introduce to them to the Little known & Scarcely understood Laws of Success.
I have been learning to use the power of “God’s Spiritual Principles” in my life and want to share that with others thru my blog. Hopefully your blog and mine will remind people that they are missing much of life by taking the “shorthand approach” to God’s teachings.
Blessings,
Jim Comley