SPELLING EDITED G-14. Do You TRULY DESIRE to STUDY the BIBLE?
My dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, there are only 52 weeks in a year. And the way the mainstream church denominations are structured to gather together on just one day a week then that means that some Christians receive on the average of about 52 hours of teaching or hearing God’s word a YEAR. So then, the Christians who do NOT read and study God’s word on their OWN are in starvation mode so to speak. They are suffering a FAMINE of God’s word. And at times, even what little of the word of God they do receive is so watered down that it has no real spiritual nutrient to help them grow and become strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. For you see, the Devil has sown so many false teachers and traditions of men in the many church denominations that some of the pastors, leaders, and Bible teachers of those church denominations seem to merely “parrot” ONLY what their particular church denomination teaches. What I mean by this is that instead of resting and trusting in the teachings of Jesus under the New Covenant written in the New Testament some in the mainstream church denominations including the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses are trusting in ONLY what THEIR particular church DENOMINATION teaches. To say this another way, some Christians are trusting their very eternal life in the hands of what their church DENOMINATION or organization teaches them. The Bible itself teaches us that we are to read and study the WORD of Almighty God and NOT church doctrine, the traditions of the church, revelations from angels and the teachings of self-proclaimed prophets. We are to renew our mind to the WORD of God and trust our eternal life in the teachings of Jesus under the New Covenant written in the New Testament. BUT many church denominations will study the Bible ONLY in the LIGHT of what that particular church denomination believes and teaches. In other words, they are BIAS in the WAY that they read and study the Bible. Some Christians call this MINDSET of reading and studying the Bible as having on their DENOMINATIONAL glasses. So my question to all my readers and Christians in every church denomination is, Do YOU TRULY desire to study the Bible? And what I mean by this is do you TRULY want to KNOW what the Bible ITSELF teaches EVEN if it means that you have been DECEIVED by what your church denomination is teaching you? Are you WILLING to take OFF your DENOMINATIONAL glasses and have an OPEN mind when you read and study the Bible from this day forward? If so then keep reading. This first thing that I want you to do is to pray and ask God to show you the TRUTH, the WHOLE truth, and NOTHING but HIS truth from this day forward. Then I want you to pray and ask God for your church denomination to want and desire the SAME thing. I want you to pray and ask God for your church denomination to have OPEN Bible studies where the GOAL of each of those Bible studies is to CORRECTLY interpret the Scripture in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God EVEN if it means that your church denomination must CHANGE what they believe and teach. Then after you have petitioned God for these things I want you to have IMPORTUNITY when asking the pastor and leaders of your church denomination to have REAL GENUINE Bible studies where every Christian has the opportunity to QUESTION what they are being taught. Not only to ask questions but for the leaders of the Bible study to search the Bible for the SOUND BIBLICAL answer. In other words, have importunity to ask your church denomination to have OPEN Bible studies that are NOT BIAS toward ONLY what your church denomination teaches. Make it KNOWN to your pastor and church leaders that you are TIRED of hearing a watered-down Gospel of Jesus Christ. Make it known you are and many other Christians want to TRULY study the Bible with a SINCERE heart to know ONLY the TRUTH that Almighty God himself INTENDS us to believe and teach. And before you confront your pastor or Bible teacher be READY. What I mean by this is to have verses of Scripture that you sincerely believe CONTRADICT what you are being taught by your church denomination. Ask them to PROVE to you directly from the Bible that your interpretation of the Scriptures is in error and that they have the correct interpretation of the Scriptures. Do not be afraid to contend for the faith of the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ. CHALLENGE their faith with the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. SHOW them that THEY have taken verses OUT of their CONTEXT. For you see, what good is it for THEM if you simply LEAVE that church denomination WITHOUT ever showing them WHY you can no longer believe and teach what their church denomination teaches. The same Holy Spirit that has revealed to YOU the truth will also reveal to THEM the truth if you are bold to SHARE what the Holy Spirit has revealed to YOU. You see, it has been my experience as well as the experience of MANY other Christians that almost all church denominations follow an OUTLINE that is DICTATED by that particular church denomination. And all the Sunday school teachers and Bible study teachers are instructed to NOT veer off that OUTLINE that they are given to follow. And that is why some Bible study teachers will “PARROT” what they have been taught by their church denomination. Now when I was a teacher in a non-denominational church there were still INSTRUCTIONS given to all the teachers that they are NOT to teach anything that the church itself does NOT teach. And as a Christians, I respected those instructions even though I myself did NOT believe everything that was being taught in that particular non-denominational church. In other words, I taught ALL SIDES of any given controversy and let my students decide for themselves what they would believe. And one Wednesday evening while teaching the many different views on the second coming of Jesus somehow we got off topic and started talking about who Jesus is. And the question was asked of me as to who I believed Jesus is. I said that I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I believe that Jesus is the Messiah and that he died for the sins of the world. And as I was explaining who I believed Jesus is, I was interrupted by the brother in the Lord who asked me who Jesus is. And he asked me if I believe in the doctrine of the Trinity? And I said that the “CHURCH” believes that Jesus is God the Son, the second person of the Godhead. And my brother in the Lord said back to me. That is NOT what I asked you! He said that he knew what the church believes. He then said I want to know what YOU believe! Now, being a Christian, I could not LIE so I told him NO! I can no longer believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. And that was ALL that he asked me. He never asked WHY I could no longer believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. So we got back on topic and finished that Wednesday’s Bible study on the second coming of Jesus. Then that Sunday the Pastor took me aside and said to me. What is this I am hearing? How can you say that you no longer believe in the doctrine of the Trinity? Do you believe in the doctrine of the Trinity of not? And I told my pastor NO! I do not believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. I was then asked to sign a document saying that I believed in the doctrine of the Trinity and if I did NOT sign that document then I had to step down from teaching. I learned later that my brother in the Lord was a SPY sent from the main congregation. Anyway, I stepped down from teaching and remained in that church for around another six months. I was always faithful to answer any questions as to WHY I could no longer believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. And to my surprise, they were quite a few brothers and sister who agreed that the doctrine of the Trinity is NOT SOUND Biblical teaching. Later I was asked to not teach against what the church teaches while I was INSIDE the church doors. But before I was told that I could ask QUESTIONS and give my COMMENTS as a STUDENT like everyone else in the Bible study. The reason that I shared my testimony is so that you can see that EVEN a NON-denominational church can still have a DENOMINATIONAL MINDSET. And what I mean by this is that when a non-denominational church forms, the leaders put together a TENETS of faith or ARTICLES of faith as to what they all agree upon as being Biblical teachings. There are usually two sections in the tenets of faith. In the first section of the tenets of faith, there are statements of faith that are REQUIRED to be believed and teach because they are a matter of SALVATION. And then in the other section of the tenets of faith, there are the statements of faith that are OPEN for discussion so long as the discussion remains peaceful and they do not cause STRIFE among that body of believers. Now, I have a TENETS of faith on my website but I do NOT teach what I believe in a DOGMATIC way except for there is only ONE NAME given among the human race whereby we MUST be saved. And that is the CORE central doctrine of EVERY Christian church denomination. All the other tenets so faith that I have on my website have IN-DEPTH Bible studies to go with each tenet of faith as to WHO I believe what I believe and then I leave it to my readers to decide what they chose to believe. And I find that most of my readers find what I teach to be LOGICAL and SOUND Biblical teaching. But I am unlike most churches where there is a need to PAY the BILLS to keep the church doors open. In other words, most church denominations have BUILDINGS and some have a mortgage payment. Also, the pastor may feel dependant upon PLEASING the flock that SUPPORTS him. I myself do not have a church BUILDING that needs to be heated and cooled along with other costs such as maintenance. And in most cases, the pastor is REQUIRED to ONLY teach what he was taught in Seminary school or else his Pastor’s license will be revoked. So most church denominations are CONTROLLED by the HEAD of that particular church denomination. However, in most cases, the head office does NOT OWN the individual church buildings. So each individual congregation can request that they become an AUTONOMOUS church congregation. Meaning that they can GOVERN themselves and teach whatever they feel led by God to teach. BUT if they KEEP the DENOMINATIONAL NAME then they must teach the same things that the church denomination teaches. That is why the churches that break free from DENOMINATIONALISM become NON-denominational churches and they changed their name. But sadly, some of the non-denominational churches have CLUNG to some of the FALSE doctrines of their former church denomination. And in churches, such as the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witness, their members are more or less FORBIDDEN to read and study any other Christian material that does NOT come directly from that particular church denomination. And their members are SHUNNED for even QUESTIONING what they are being taught by headquarters or the GOVERNING body. So I ENCOURAGE all my readers and Christians from every church denomination to STAND UP for the TRUTH and insist that you want to have REAL GENUINE SOUND Biblical Bible studies where you can OPENLY ask questions WITHOUT being looked at like you are some kind of heretic that is DENYING Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Get your LEADERS to see that you will leave their church is MASSES along with other Christians leaving WITH you if open discussion of the Bible is kept out of your church denomination. Let them know that you are tired of the ONE way MONOLOGUE dictating what the Bible teaches and being told to shut your mouth so to speak or face the consequences. Tell them that you desire to be able to DIALOG what you believe that the Bible is teaching. Let them know that you are CONCERNED about what your church denomination is teaching because to YOU it CONTRADICTS what the Bible ITSELF teaches. Going to church is NOT about meeting an OBLIGATION. It is about the EDIFYING of the saints. And if it takes three weeks to cover ONE single question that HELPS a Christian to grow STRONG in the TRUE faith of the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ then that is time WELL SPENT. And if the Bible teacher and a few Christians want to stay the whole day and night studying the Bible then have the teacher dismiss that class at the “precious” scheduled time so that they can get to the restaurant before the other church denominational Christians. And those who are SERIOUS about growing closer to God can stay and study the Bible as long as their heart's desires. The early New Testament church met EVERY day of the week. Paul preached the gospel all night long. The early Christians were HUNGRY for the word of God. And I believe that as we see the day of the Lord drawing CLOSER that we should NOT NEGLECT the assembling of ourselves together all the more. One of my dear brother in our Lord Jesus Christ was talking the other day about how much the church denominations of today have WATERED DOWN the word of God. We talked about how many Christians are HUNGRY for the MEAT of God’s word. If you are a pastor of a church then OPEN your eyes to see that many of your flock are STARVING to be fed the MEAT of God’s word. And if you want to KEEP them then you had better make some CHANGES in how your church is structured. Many of you pastors are drawing a YEARS salary for two days a week of work. Yes, I realize that you do hospital visits and such but if you DELEGATE that kind of work by TRAINING your congregation the CORRECT way to follow the example of the early first-century church then you would have more time to prepare SOUND Biblical Bible studies. Many pastors have asked to use my studies and I have told them, ABSOLUTELY, please feel free to use any Bible study that I have. So what took me some forty years to study and write out can be downloaded and printed out in less than one hour. So at least TRY one of my studies out in one of your Bible studies at your church and see how it goes. You may be surprised how much the Holy Spirit has already been TALKING to your sheep. EVEN if you STRONGLY disagree with some of what I teach go ahead and use that teaching as a WHOLE and see what happens. In other words, be respectful and do not quote me OUT of CONTEXT. The WORST thing that could happen is that YOU may have to CHANGE what YOU believe. That is my CHALLENGE to my readers who are pastors. PLANT the SEED of God’s word and see what happens. Let the Holy Spirit LEAD your flock. Give them the CHOICE as to what they sincerely believe that the Holy Spirit is teaching them. Do you TRULY want to STUDY the Bible or NOT? That is the question that every Christian needs to ask themselves. WHAT IF what your church denomination teaches is WRONG? WHAT IF your church denomination is teaching a DIFFERENT gospel? WHAT IF your church denomination is teaching ANOTHER Jesus? And HOW will you ever know if YOU do not read and study the bible FOR YOURSELF? I have heard personal testimonies of even PASTORS who had been preaching and teaching the gospel for thirty and forty years who got SAVED when they finally heard the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ. THINK about how many people that those pastors UNITENIONALLY DECEIVED with a FALSE gospel all those years THINKING that they were getting people saved when in truth they were deceiving those people? I have and it brought me to my KNEES praying that I will always teach nothing but the TRUTH. I have weighed and meditated on the SOUND Scriptural evidence for years before I ever shared what God was showing me to anyone else. It was so DIFFERENT from what I had been taught. And the DIFFERENCE made me afraid to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit to stand up against DENOMINATONALISM. And then when I began to share what the Holy Spirit was teaching me I found OTHER Christians who were being taught the SAME things. But thirty-five years ago we were a small MINORITY compared to the ORTHODOX Christians and our voice was smothered out by the MANY. It is time we take a STAND for the TRUE Jesus and let our voices be heard. But do NOT be like the many that OPPRESSED us and shut us out. Rather, teach what you KNOW is the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God and then allow God to give the INCREASE because unless God builds the house it will not stand.
Thanks for reading and may God bless you richly as you seek to bring UNITY between the many different church DENOMINATIONS. I will leave you with this Scripture.
2 Timothy 2:24-26.
“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25, In meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26. And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”
Those who are being deceived must see that they are being deceived directly from the word of God before they will come out of the darkness. To all my readers, please feel free to use any of my studies to have your OWN Bible studies in your home or at the park or wherever you can find a place to meet. You can have your own Bible studies while you are waiting for your answer to your prayers for God to open the hearts and minds of the church denominational leaders to have good sound Biblical OPEN Bible studies in their church denominations. Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark.
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