Rant for the day

How does God speak to us?

Through His Word, also known as the Bible.   Reading and studying the scriptures is key.  Hearing the Word preached from the pulpit is vital as well, and I mean preaching from the Scriptures not topical feel good sermons.  Yes, God does speak through the reading & hearing of His Word.  If you need something else to hear from God then YOU could be the problem. 


For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.  For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.  And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.    2 Peter 1:16-21

O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you.  Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.  Grace be with you.  
1 Timothy 6:20-21


Read all of of 2 Timothy 3 & 4.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.  That the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.  2 Timothy 3:14-17

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, an exhort, with complete patience and teaching.  For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wonder off  into myths.    As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.  
2 Timothy 4:1-5





Throughout my life I've sat under many different pastors with very different preaching styles and personalities.  There are pastors who I've learned a great deal from and love hearing them preach.  Some pastors I haven't enjoyed listening to because I found myself getting bored during the sermon.  Then there are pastors who tell a wonderful story, but I find myself not learning anything of substance.  A few others spend a great deal of time explaining the history and the Greek or Hebrew of the text, and I've found myself wondering why that was important.

I didn't know the difference between an expository, topical, or topical expository sermon.  What I knew was whether or not I liked the sermon and how it made me feel.   

Praise the Lord, He began to show me how immature and ignorant I am!  I shouldn't be asking the questions "Do I like this sermon or how does this make me feel?" instead I should ask "Is what I heard biblical?"

Unfortunately many Christians would rather hear "What does this scripture means to me?' sermons without first asking "What does this scripture mean?"  I know I did.

I've heard my husband say many times that you must first know what the verse means.  After you know what the verse means in context, you can then make application.  If you skip to the application (means to me?) without first knowing the context (what does it mean?) then you are asking for trouble, because you're being subjective.

As I said earlier, I've sat under many different pastors and heard many sermons.  Unfortunately I've heard too many sermons where I've been more focused on being critical of how the pastor was presenting the Word rather than asking God to teach me from the reading & preaching of the scriptures.