I don't line up revisited

Ok I have to start off by saying that I have sat back and really thought about my last post and although it was a good post I am not going to follow thru on my idea about discussing the 9 points of the 9 Marks Ministry. I think they are trying to do some good things and I believe that the common goal of the great commission is seeking to be filled by this group so I can't really knock them on that.

I think part of the problem with Christianity today is we spend more time debating and arguing with one another on things that aren't really relevant and let them divided us. Some people believe in election and some people don't, some people believe in expositional preaching and some believe in topical preaching...and so on. Most of these things are not relevant in my opinion to the good new of Jesus Christ(I know someone will argue with that point but then they are just re-enforcing my belief about to much debate)

So with that behind me to my next topic. I am in a bible study with some men at church whom I respect highly. We have been studying together for over a year now and it has been very good. I have grown to respect them more and hopefully they respect me more as well. We are starting down the path of studying the 10 commandments. This is a great topic and one that I enjoy to talk about because we in Christian circles have forgotten what the 10 commandments say much less the why and how they are important to us today. So I am going to email my bible study guys with a link to this blog and I am going to start a discussion on the 10 commandments hopefully. If you want to comment please do. My next post will come in the next 24 hrs hopefully and it will be on the 1st and 2nd commandments. I will email those guys and lets see where this little adventure will go.

I don't always line up....

....with what most people say, do, or believe. This is not merely in my character but also in my beliefs, my relationships, and my life. I don't like to follow crowds. This is sometimes a problem for people but it is the truth of who I am. I think far to often crowds of people believe in something simply because that is what they are told to believe and they don't feel they have any reason to question the teaching or words of those that are doing the teaching(this is not correct as we are challenge to test and approve what God's will is but that is for another time). Now this can in certain situations be a good thing so I am not bashing people who are like that. I actually am a little jealous because I wished I could take things are face value but I have never been that way. I have always investigated the validity of the teachings in my life. This is very true of my walk with Christ. When a pastor or teacher is teaching me something I always investigate what they are talking about to make sure it lines up with the teachings of the bible. If that course is inline with someone or something well then fine but sometimes it doesn't and I dismiss what that teaching and move on.

With all of that said I have a few thoughts and statements. My favorite question to ask is Why?. Some call that psychology but I simply think it is responsible. The why question is never fully answerable without a firm understanding of God. Don't believe me.....next time someone tries to tell you something then ask them why. They will try to answer it and then ask them why, rinse and repeat...what you will find is them getting frustrated because they can't answer that question fully.

Now you ask why I believe that hopefully...here is why. God can't nor will He ever be fully defined in human terms and or characteristics. Everything in this world was caused by something...if you believe in the big bang or in creationism something caused it to happen. Ask an evolutionist why did the monkeys evolve(if you believe they did) and then take their answer and ask why?. Eventually they won't be able to answer you. Take someone who believes in creationism and doesn't have a firm understanding of God and ask them why. What you will find is an inability to answer that question and here is why.....Nothing caused God! God was and is. He was here before the world and He will be here after the world. Science can't answer that question no matter how hard they try. So now that I have proven that you can't answer the questions of this world without believing in God it is time to move forward and tell you why I am writing a post like this. (if you wish to debate this point about science not being able to answer the question why feel free to comment. I welcome all points of view on this topic.)

A couple of weeks ago I was surfing the web and browsed over to 9MarksMinistry website. Now I have and had heard of this group before and heard some very good things about then. They basically want the church to be the church that God designed in the bible and they have 9 marks of what this church in the modern times should do. Now this is all well and good. They can hold to these ideals all they want but that doesn't mean they are right. This also doesn't mean they are wrong either. The why question can be used to analyze the nine marks and decide if these points are good and right according to the scriptures or if these nine marks are the what the founders of this group sincerely believe that the scriptures say according to human understand of God. I am not against what they want nor am I saying they are wrong but I think a series of post on this topic would stimulate me and hopefully stimulate you to ask the hard questions that need be asked and I simply picked this group because they are a popular group and powerful group of people in the Christian community. I am not trying to pick a fight nor am I going to. I believe that sometimes agreeing to disagree is ok and I am sure that on some of these points that will be the case with me. That is why i don't always line up!