EYE OF THE NEEDLE
Life is for learning, not for lounging. Our brief journey here on earth is not about pleasures or possessions. Rather, it is to teach us how to trust our Creator, how to love our enemies, how to forgive our companions. Indeed, we are being prepared for that other life which lies beyond the grave. We are being molded for the kingdom of GOD. This site is dedicated to those who are willing to roll up their sleeves, open the Book, and labor for that meat which endures unto everlasting life.
I suppose that there is a degree of spiritual maturity to finally admit that as students of the scriptures, we at best can only offer our opinions. For the most part we are all simply spectators, admiring the Book from a distance of many centuries. We may think that we fully understand some particular aspect of HIS truth, we may even proclaim that we so understand it, perhaps even demanding that others concur that we have arrived at a sunesis, but we can never really be sure that the next revelation might not throw an entirely new light upon all that we thought we knew.
We may each have our different insights and perspectives, but let us never be fooled into thinking that we have finally arrived at some mystical summit where truth drips from our lips. Any honest seeker of truth will admit that he has had to refine and perhaps even totally change his understanding of GOD over the course of his life, and will no doubt be required to do so again. And this is as it should be. Our life is a growth and as such we should be maturing and developing as we advance along that winding road.
Unfortunately, too many students of Scripture attach themselves to organizations which have chiseled their beliefs in stone and seldom are willing to consider anything which falls outside the articles of their faith. These beliefs too often develop into traditions which are seldom questioned or ever fully explained. They are just accepted (see Church Traditions). It requires a great alacrity of mind to be able to simply read what is written, and not read into Scripture our own particular dogma.
After the gathering together of the first generation of disciples, those left behind wrestled with each other concerning the truth of many of our most basic tenets of faith (see Whatever Happened to Timothy?). During the following centuries those truths were covered over by the Orthodox Church. All through the so-called Dark Ages they were for the most part unknown, only being partially recovered during the Reformation. But even then, as always, the Establishment resisted the spirit of truth.
We do not ourselves claim to possess an unflawed understanding of the Bible. Understanding the truth is a gradual unfolding process, a journey and not a destination. We only claim that here, outside their camp we are not held like a tether to the traditions of the Church. We prefer to go on to a fuller understanding of HIS matchless Word.
If in meekness you can contribute here, please do. But be scriptural, not contentious. Iron sharpeneth iron, and with this attitude we can help each other continue our spiritual growth.
I suppose that there is a degree of spiritual maturity to finally admit that as students of the scriptures, we at best can only offer our opinions. For the most part we are all simply spectators, admiring the Book from a distance of many centuries. We may think that we fully understand some particular aspect of HIS truth, we may even proclaim that we so understand it, perhaps even demanding that others concur that we have arrived at a sunesis, but we can never really be sure that the next revelation might not throw an entirely new light upon all that we thought we knew.
We may each have our different insights and perspectives, but let us never be fooled into thinking that we have finally arrived at some mystical summit where truth drips from our lips. Any honest seeker of truth will admit that he has had to refine and perhaps even totally change his understanding of GOD over the course of his life, and will no doubt be required to do so again. And this is as it should be. Our life is a growth and as such we should be maturing and developing as we advance along that winding road.
Unfortunately, too many students of Scripture attach themselves to organizations which have chiseled their beliefs in stone and seldom are willing to consider anything which falls outside the articles of their faith. These beliefs too often develop into traditions which are seldom questioned or ever fully explained. They are just accepted (see Church Traditions). It requires a great alacrity of mind to be able to simply read what is written, and not read into Scripture our own particular dogma.
After the gathering together of the first generation of disciples, those left behind wrestled with each other concerning the truth of many of our most basic tenets of faith (see Whatever Happened to Timothy?). During the following centuries those truths were covered over by the Orthodox Church. All through the so-called Dark Ages they were for the most part unknown, only being partially recovered during the Reformation. But even then, as always, the Establishment resisted the spirit of truth.
We do not ourselves claim to possess an unflawed understanding of the Bible. Understanding the truth is a gradual unfolding process, a journey and not a destination. We only claim that here, outside their camp we are not held like a tether to the traditions of the Church. We prefer to go on to a fuller understanding of HIS matchless Word.
If in meekness you can contribute here, please do. But be scriptural, not contentious. Iron sharpeneth iron, and with this attitude we can help each other continue our spiritual growth.