My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge? Something like that...
Bump for later
And lest anyone want to make this into a denominational war, these materials were made possible because Jeff Cavins came from a Protestant minister background, with its emphasis on complete Bible study, before he converted (? back ?) over to Catholicism.
That "Bible study discipline for the pewsitter" culture that the Protestants kept alive is much appreciated, and its reintroduction into Catholicism is helping many members learn and solidify our faith.
All true, and the abandonment of old hymns in most congregations has ruined the atmosphere of spirituality. The American people are impatient with God but patients with their secular powers.
I had the opportunity to travel with an associate pastor to a hear him preach a message at a church in a neighboring town. He is a great expositor of the Word and taught aspiring young preachers at a local Bible college.
On the way back home he asked me “Did you notice anything wrong with that church?”
My mind flashed back through the service and I remembered that their pastor was very nice, the people were nice, the church facilities and grounds were nicely maintained, the choir and singing was nice, etc..
I replied, “No, what was wrong?”
He said “No-one had their Bible with them.”
Then I remembered seeing “nice” hymnals in the nice pews, but not even a Bible there in the pews, or anyone carrying a Bible.
I’ll never forget that.
FWIW, I used to be a staunch 9-Marks adherent, including emphasis on expositional preaching. Until I remembered that Jesus was not an expositional preacher. He was a thematic preacher.
Sensitive context aside, here’s a response to that I wrote:
The source article laments those who grow impatient with a half dozen verses. There is, of course, a problem with churches which barely have references to Scripture at all in favor of “relevance”. We should, of course, read the Word in depth and breadth, focusing on the content therein rather than upon ourselves.
Addressing this in no way should lead to _ignoring_ the needs of the people, relentlessly hammering away at verses in minute detail without helping listeners grow into the material from where they are and without removing stumbling blocks that hinder them. Christ’s ministry time and again focused on the debilitating needs of individuals, resolving those problems by application of the Word and using that resolution as an opportunity to teach it. When children clamored to see Christ and the disciples resisted, He insisted on allowing them to come; surely He taught them, and did so on their intellectual level and with examples relevant to them, however simplistic.
Yes, we have the model of presenting the Word to the people at rapt attention, given at length and explained as needed. Yes, the people stood at attention - and we may safely presume the presenters did not go on at indefinite length, testing the strength and will of the people until just a few hardened minds & bodies were left standing. And yes, the Word was presented - as a manageable totality in the context of limited human existence, not spending years on a small portion thereof.
Of course the people must hear the word - all of it, at their level. The source article criticizes those who refuse to hear more than a minuscule fraction of Scripture, preferring to hear about their own concerns. The other extreme is no better, presenting such that most cannot comprehend more than a minuscule fraction, and ignoring their very real concerns. When the people come to hear the Word, meet them where they are in mind and body - else they are unable to receive it.
Netzarim.
Educated, and can read! Hated as well, very sad! So much for tolerance.
therefinersfire.org/mj.htm
Have your scripture and then preach it.
The Word is for instruction. Some of us are kind of slow. You will have to bear with us while we try to understand. And how can we understand if no one will guide us?
I’m an Orthodox Christian. Many Protestants think that there is little or no Biblical preaching in the Orthodox Church.
That is not true. We have reading of the Epistle and the Gospel, and Biblical preaching every single Sunday and Feast Day. (I’m a lay Reader, so I am blessed to do some of that Epistle reading).
And we have truly powerful Sacraments, too!!!!
An impatience with the Word of God? Or a lack of the flow of Grace because of what Bible versus are being selected and for what reasons?
IF, when Jesus said in Matthew 22:35-40 and Mark 12:28-34, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind", and "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" are the commandments upon which "hang the whole of the Law," He actually MEANT it,
AND
When Jesus said in John 13:34-35, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another," He actually meant THAT too,
THEN,
Perhaps, just perhaps, He was teaching us HOW to teach - not just what to teach.
In fact, maybe He was also giving a Special Dispensation, so that His power would flow maximally through the teachings IF they were taught in this manner.
In which case, the darkness of this age would not be able to prevail over His teachings, and people would not get bored hearing them, and would not get angry hearing them, and would not turn away from Him, and turn, instead, towards Islam and progressive communism and late-term abortion and drugs and self-hatred.
For as Jesus also said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Which means if people were sharing Jesus' teachings in the proper way, with "gentleness and a humble heart," that "easy yoke," that "rest," is what those hearing those teachings would experience. Instead however, people arrogantly teach damnation, against Jesus' instructions, and drive people away - and straight into the hells that have plagued the world to this day.
“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”
~~St. Jerome
Cracks me up when folks contend Catholic’s unfamiliarity with the Bible.
Each Mass has a reading from the Old Testament, one from the New, and a Gospel.
Citing chapter and verse is a parlor game, having little to do with the knowledge of the Bible.
Any church that reads and teaches only out of the King James Version, I can understand the problem.
I grew up with the New American Standard Bible and even that now is starting to sound archaic in places.
Some of the newer versions are easier to hear and relate to but may not always be the most precise translation.
Yet, deep down, it is the human heart that has the problem. Those that are hungry for God’s Word will take the time to study it and understand it. Those that don’t will find any excuse not to.
The Holy Spirit will provide the wisdom and understanding if you take the time to read with an open and sincere heart.
Timothy says it best in “2 Timothy 3”:
1 But realize this that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.
I emphasize verse five. They will *claim* they know God but they will deny God’s infinite power. That, to me, represents quite a few churches that have decided to compromise with God’s clear commands in order to satisfy their lusts or because they, in their blindness, believe they know better than God does when it comes to some topics.
Jesus will tell them “I do not know you.”
“Don’t use too much scripture, you’ll loose people”.
The making of LIC (Low Information Christians)
501C3 ties a good preacher’s hands. And all churches want it to stretch their donation $$.
The truth does not matter to these false preachers, it is outside the limit of the Bible.
For all:
Get in the habit of asking people one of two questions when you go to church:
1) What did you hear in the sermon?
2) What did you read in your Bible this past week?
This will tell you a lot about your church. But, be prepared to answer that question too.
Many just want a social occasion, not a service.
2 Tim 4:3