Morning Moments

One of the great difficulties of our day in preaching is that there is so little time to explain a text in its context and to deal with the background, terms, topics, and themes, etc within the passage.  The pastor/preacher is expected to just "preach a sermon" and the average listener gets a message filled with illustrations and quotations from everyone and everywhere but the Bible.  It is no wonder there is arising so many "House churches", "Home Bible Studies", and the like.  People can sit for two hours on a sofa in a home environment, with a cup of coffee, asking and answering questions when they can't sit through a one hour service at a multimillion complex which padded seats or pews,  I find this interesting.  But the danger is, and I have been in some of these, is that all that is done is discussing what YOU think a passage is saying or what it MEANS to YOU, as opposed to what it REALLY means and what it is REALLY saying.  It is like discussing the absolute of math that 2 plus 2 equals 4 and asking, what YOU think it means or what it says to YOU.  We move from the Absolute to the Abstract or from the Objective Truth of the Word of God to the Subjective experience of those participating.  You should be able to clearly see the problem this presents.

Please understand that I am simply being PRAGMATIC through observation and experimentation prior to arriving at any conclusion.  We can certainly aspire to "do it right" as some are honestly seeking to do, but my point is that you do not learn the Scripture by devotional thoughts or personal insights only.  We must have an authority and we must be (in my humble opinion), systematic and disciplined.  For example:  Suppose you have a small group where one member is given to the study of TERMS, and another is given to the study of THEMES, and another to TOPICS, and another to HISTORY, and another to GEOGRAPHY, THEN each and all could share how THE TRUTH impacted their lives.  If each diligently studied and each was able to share the LIGHT of or on the TEXT, you can easily see how the whole group would be edified, educated, and ultimately equipped to minister, serve, and share the Absolute Truth in the normal routine of life.  What a difference THAT would make!

I don't know, but maybe, just maybe, we are approaching a time in Church History when the shallowness of celebrity and the superficiality of circus is diminishing and the hunger for REAL Truth is finding its way back into the hearts of True Christianity.

Just wondering!