by Pastor C. R. Stam
This was the question Philip asked of the Ethiopian prince as he sat reading from Isaiah’s prophecy (Acts 8:30), and it is a question which we should continually keep asking ourselves as we read the holy Scriptures.
There are always those among God’s people who do not much care whether or not they understand what they read if only it warms their hearts! To them the Bible is little more than a fetish. Taking only those Scriptures which appeal to them, and leaving the rest, they actually feel themselves quite spiritual and often talk about believing the Bible whether or not they understand it!
But such “spirituality” is far from genuine, and such“faith” is blind and super stitious at best. While it is true that the Bible teaches many truths which we believe, although they are beyond our comprehension (such as its opening verse!), yet how can we believe what the Bible says unless we understand what it says? God would have us understand what we read and believe it intelligently.
Indeed, true faith will want to know and understand more and more of God’s Word. One who does not care whether or not he understands what God has said is not truly interested in knowing what God has said. His faith is based on his own will rather than on God’s Word, for regardless of the meaning of Scripture, he will take any passage that suits his fancy and use it as he wishes. How great an emphasis God Himself places upon the importance of understanding His Word!
On one occasion, when our Lord saw the multitudes, He “was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things” (Mark 6:34). And now that the secret of God’s “eternal purpose” has been made known, how much more reason there is to study the Scriptures, with a view to understanding them! How Paul, by the Spirit, emphasizes this, as he writes of his prayers for the saints:
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him:
“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling…” (Eph.1:17,18).
It Is No Secret Lyrics
The chimes of time ring out the news, another day is through
Someone slipped and fell, was that someone you?
You may have longed for added strength, your courage to renew
Do not be disheartened, for I have news for you
It is no secret what God can do
What He's done for others, He'll do for you
With arms wide open, He'll pardon you
It is no secret what God can do
There is no night for in His light you never walk alone
Always feel at home, wherever you may go
There is no power can conquer you, while God is on your side
Take Him at His promise, don't run away and hide
It is no secret what God can do
What He's done for others, He'll do for you
With arms wide open, He'll pardon you
It is no secret what God can do
Daily Smile:
You Know you are Addicted to the Internet When...
· You step out of your room and realize that your parents have moved, and you don't have a clue when it happened.
· Your wife drapes a blond wig over your monitor to remind you of what she looks like.
· All of your friends have an @ in their names.
· Your dog has its own home page.
· You can't call your mother... she doesn't have a modem.
· You wake up at 3 a.m. to go to the bathroom and stop and check your e-mail on the way back to bed.
· You buy a Captain Kirk chair with a built-in keyboard and mouse.
· You get a new suit that says, "This best viewed with Netscape 4.01 or higher."
· Your wife says communication is important in a marriage... so you buy another computer and install a second phone line so the two of you can chat.
Editor's Note:
Wireless Modem eliminates need for second phone line... (((BIG SMILE)))
In The News:
Gay-Affirming Episcopal Pastor Chosen to Replace Giglio for Obama Benediction
An Episcopal pastor at a church not far from the White House has been chosen to replace evangelical pastor Louie Giglio for the official benediction at President Barack Obama's public inauguration on Jan. 21, the Christian Post reports. The Rev. Dr. Luis Leon, who has led St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., since 1995 and who also delivered the invocation at George W. Bush's second inauguration in 2005, was invited last week to deliver the benediction. After Giglio decided to decline the invitation to lead the benediction due to protests against an anti-homosexuality sermon he preached 20 years ago, many had predicted the minister chosen to replace him would be gay-affirming. St. John's Church, which has been attended by Obama as well as former president George W. Bush, blesses gay and lesbian unions. Giglio was chosen to perform the benediction largely for his global anti-slavery campaign, which drew strong support from Obama, but he explained he did not want to stir negative emotions at a time when he said the country needed healing, not division.
European Court Says U.K. Equality Laws Trump Personal Religious Beliefs
The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday ruled that equality laws trump personal religious beliefs, rejecting three of four appeals filed by British Christians who were fired or disciplined for expressing religious beliefs in the workplace, the Religion News Service reports. In what lawyers describe as "landmark rulings," the court in Strasbourg, France, ruled that employers did not violate the religious rights of a registrar who refused to officiate for the civil partnership of a same-sex couple or of a counselor who was unwilling to offer sex therapy for gays. The court also rejected an appeal by a nurse whose hospital barred her from wearing a cross around her neck because it was a health hazard. But in a fourth case, a British Airways clerk who was suspended for wearing a cross necklace on the job won her appeal and was awarded damages. In Britain, her case was rejected by the employment tribunal, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, but the European judges ruled in her favor. "Delighted that principle of wearing religious symbols at work has been upheld -- people shouldn't suffer discrimination due to religious beliefs," British Prime Minister David Cameron responded on Twitter. The U.S.-based Alliance Defending Freedom called the other three rejections "extremely disappointing."
Megan Fox Reveals Speaking in Tongues, Seeing Healings at Church
26-year-old actress Megan Fox is best known for her roles in movies like "Transformers," but the new mother recently spoke about her battle with fame and speaking in tongues at her current place of worship, the Christian Post reports. Fox, who will appear as the cover girl in the February issue of Esquire magazine, said she was making church a priority these days and revealed that she first began speaking in tongues at the age of 8, growing up in a Pentecostal church in Tennessee. "It's called 'getting the Holy Ghost,'" she said, adding that she has seen "magical, crazy things happen" at church: "I've seen people be healed. Even now, in the church I go to, during praise and worship I could feel that I was maybe getting ready to speak in tongues, and I'd have to shut it off because I don't know what that church would do if I started screaming out in tongues in the back." While some have viewed Fox as sex symbol, she said she did not want that role to define who she is. "I felt powerless in that image," she said. "... It ate every other part of my personality, not for me but for how people saw me, because there was nothing else to see or know."
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