Where do the Scriptures fit in the life of the believer? We all know the religious practice of disciplined reading schedules and following the book as if it were the owner’s manual for the Christian life, but is that enough? Wayne and Brad finally get the chance to discuss a topic they’ve had on their list for some time and that has already been discussed in two topics on The God Journey Forum.
Wayne & Brad,
Thanks for sharing on this matter, also, thanks for being you, don’t sweat the thing of having to jump through someones ideas (hoops) of having so much fun before launching into the ‘deep stuff’.
Your candor, and humour is most liberating, Father is still setting so many free from such stuffy religiosity…
Here is a quote from something I am reading and thought it fit in here.
In Him we Live,
Richard
“The Word of God we speak of here does not refer to the written word in the Bible, but to the word the Holy Spirit speaks to us from within. The Bible is God’s written Word; this is certainly correct. But such a Word, composed of mere fixed letters, does not have the power of shining light and cannot be light to us. However, when the Holy Spirit reveals anew the word of the Bible, opening and quickening it to us, the Word then has the power of shining light and can be our light. If we only read the Bible, though we read it thoroughly and even memorize it, what we obtain are but doctrines of letters. We have not as yet obtained the Word of God; hence we have not obtained light. Only when the Holy Spirit in our spirit gives us revelation, opening up the word of the Bible to us, does the word become the living Word of God which can cause us to obtain the light of God.”
Here is a different perspective regarding your [i]introductory time.[/i] Those who see this as a waste and something to get through before getting to the [b]deep stuff[/b] may only be looking for [u]instruction[/u] and demanding another [u]program[/u]. As for myself, I see it as an opportunity to learn more about Brad & Wayne. What’s up in your lives. What did you do this week. Are you tired, excited, disturbed. In short it is an opportunity to eves drop into your relationship which is what this conversation is all about, right?
Richad, Peter, & Others,
Those commenting on the fun stuff were not being critical. They love that time too. They just thought it was funny that we came close to the same time frame each week. Frankly, we were surprised too.
So don’t worry. Our plan is still to turn on the mics and see where we end up. We’re never sure where the other is going to take us anyway. Sorry if we weren’t clearer about that…
Wayne
Wow. This is really knocking a few more nails out of the lid of my religious coffin!
One thing that really hit me; the fact that the Bible is progressive revelation. I don’t think I’ve ever consiously thought about that before. Just like God shows Himself more and more clearly to us as we get closer to Him as individuals, He was showing Himself more and more clearly to Israel as they moved on too. I’ve never seen it in the context of a collective progression in a relationship with a nation before; only with me as an individual ;(
This makes sense. Just as I can get crusty and legalistic if I reject new or deeper revelation of God, so could, and has, Israel, as a nation.
This is a slightly scary idea, because I unconsiously learned, all my Christian life, that the physical Bible had some kind of ‘magical’ value. I can see, through what you said, that often we Christians treat the Bible like Sikhs do the Guru Granth Sahib (their holy book), which they keep in the Gurdwara on a raised platform, covered in finery. The platform is always covered by an ornate canopy.
It’s amazing how similarly religious we Christians can be! I used to feel bad if I dropped a Bible on the floor. Amazing how the Lord is freeing my mind.
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