Every day we are faced with moments of despair, doubt, fear and self-rejection. In these moments when we do not see clearly, and lose sight of what is really important, it is all the more crucial to remember to choose love over anxiety. The restlessness of anxiety causes us to forget who we are and what we are here for. …
We think that we have to take what’s broken and make it perfect in order to be used by God and bless others, but God thinks in a completely different way. He took what was perfect — His son — and made Him broken in order to bring us healing. Through Christs’ wounds we are healed, and because He lives in us, our wounds can bring healing to others too. If you’re wondering if God can use you because your life is not as it should be and your heart is aching, know that your greatest hurt will probably be your greatest ministry. Like the disciple Thomas, who doubted until he touched the scars of Jesus, some people in your life need to see your broken places more than your victories.Isaiah 53:5
145 I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your saints shall bless you!
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
12 to make known to the children of man your[d] mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
[The Lord is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.][e]
14 The Lord upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
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*Bolded are just some of the awesome characteristics of our God.
I find the term troublesome when applied to a certain way of reading the Bible. I find it does not convey the right meaning. To me it seems to suggest that people who read the Bible this way are the only ones who are reading it right, the only ones who are being obedient to God and that everyone else is a lesser breed of Christian. It’s become something of a badge of pride to wear, a means of drawing up lines and excluding others.
I really don’t know what would be a better term.
If anyone has any suggestions or thought please feel free to post them.
I find the literal way to be something of a selective way to read the Bible. Isolated verses are taken and read out of context.
I prefer, or at least try to read the Bible as a whole and if I do approach something troublesome to apply to it the teachings of Christ, to see if their in line with what He showed us, in a word to read the whole of scripture through the lens of Jesus’s ministry.
I guess the literalists would say I’m the one that is being selective, but I would turn the table on them and sugges that they are the one’s that are being selective literalists, chopping up the Bible into tiny out of context pieces with which to “stone” others.
I personally have too much respect for God’s word and the people he created and loves to go throwing individual verses of the Bible at others. Scripture is holy. People are holy. Let’s not use Bible verses as stones to injure others. The Bible was never meant to be used as a weapon.
So, for now, while I have this dilemma and until someone comes up with a suggestion I like, I think my chosen terminology will be “selective literalists” and “wholists”
We have bigger houses
and smaller familes;
more convenience, but less time.
We have degrees, but less sense;
more knowledge, but less judgement;
more experts, but more problems;
more medicine, but less healthiness.
We have been all the way to
the moon and back, but have trouble
crossing the street to meet
the new neighbour.
We built more computers to hold
more information to produce more
copies than ever,
but have less communication.
We have become long on quantity,
but short on quality.
These are times of fast foods,
and slow disgestions;
tall men and short character;
steep profits, and shallow relationships.
It is the time when there is much in the window,
and little in the room.
His Holiness The XIVth Dalai Lama
To me, Christian orthodoxy is essentially a belief in a Person who always has many things to tell us but we cannot hear them now. He has given us the Spirit of Truth that shall guide us into all the truth; a sentence that implies that we must keep moving.
from the autobiography of “George MacLeod” (founder of the Iona Community) by Ronald Ferguson
