February 1, 2011
McMinnville, Oregon
Now
what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your
reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will
ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13
Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to
get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is
very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. Deuteronomy
30:11-14
But
what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,
that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you
declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your
heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you
profess your faith and are saved. Romans
10:8-10,
I have
hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11
Today, like
nearly every day this year, I picked up my sixth grader Colton from middle school. As I was waiting
to pull out of the school with three of his screaming buddies in the car a
middle school girl crossed in front of my truck. She was walking in the
opposite way of the others students. She was strangely
out of place. Her uncut hair was rolled up in a bun, wearing a long dress,
plaid vest, and a white long sleeve shirt.
I instantly
recognized her as a student form the church next to the middle school.
They do
not follow the Apostles Creed. They do not believe in the Trinity. They do not
allow congregants to show skin except hands and head. Ever. If you do not speak
in tongues, do not follow their Jesus Only Creed, and do not go to their church
you are lost and doomed for Hell.
They
have strayed from the word of God.
Isn’t
amazing that being just one degree off on your compass will set you way off
course over time. One hundredth of a second will place you out of medal
contention at the Olympics. One inch off is a strike out. One yard off is a
punt. One foot off is an air ball. One verse off is a heresy.
The
Psalmist wrote, “I have hidden your word
in my heart that I might not sin against you.” We have dumbed down God’s
Word in our teachings, churches, and Bible translations.
At what
point do we call The Message, New living Translation, Today’s New International
Version and whatever watered down contemporary translations a paraphrase
of the Bible and not the Bible itself? Are we that uneducated that we cannot
understand the basics of English? Have we fallen that for the most dangerous,
mysterious, and sought after library in the world has been watered down to virtually
a comic book?
“In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God”
(John 1:1-2). Men want the real deal. Men want to wrestle
with it and want help understanding it. Men demand the truth, the whole truth,
and not some colloquial watered down version of it.
The Word
implanted saves lives but if the Word watered down, diluted just a bit, the
results are disastrous. Know the word men. Know it better than anyone in your
family.
Do your best to present yourself to God as
one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly
handles the word of truth. (2Timothy 2:15)
