Well, I am kind of liking the new Dean.
Anyway -- maybe the difference is found in our function within the Body or just our personality make-up. I could have been quite the intellectual, I think, except that I was put into an Okies body !! I am as hick a looking guy as you will find. I write some of the big words and I understand most of what I read from the intellectual side of the room, but I seldom speak above a 10th grade level.
cd: John I am in total disagreement with you on this as I have never spoken to a 10 th graded with this dept of understanding nor intellect-preach on. For me using "big words" often confuses but one does have to consider the audience we are attempting to communicate with and use appropriate wording- I have found that some "big words" can bring more dept of understanding to our message if the one receiving is able to find that dept of meaning in those words-for me anything else is a waste of time.
and I absolutely love 'research" in the written word. We cannot, or shall I say, we dare not stop thinking. Our brains, Dean, were not made to just receive. They were not made to thrill at the stagnent. For my money, the greatest question a student of the Message can ask -- over and over again - is "what if?" If you know greek, the big question is "what if this nuance was intended instead of that one?" But one can do much the same thing comparing the translations. If you are just looking for error - well, I guess that is easy to find. But sometimes, when comparing the translations, a thought goes roaring by because you were open to the text. If you don't reach out and grab that moment of connectivity (just couln't come up with a better word, sorry) -- you miss some of the glory God intended as you study the Word. It is this kind of study that makes one
a better communicator of God's word. It is this kind of study that reveals the Message to be God's Word !!! If we thrill at His presense, why not His Word ???
cd: Amen John but on that shady side I want to be sure that "thought" did come from God and not man-but I can also agree that the Holy Spirit can teach us which is of God and which is of man. This fear of being sure stems from the fact that I dwell upon the read word almost continually and in doing so those word become a part of who I am-they are in effect becoming me-or better said I am becoming them- so the purest me will be the most pleasing to God as the reflection of the Son must show in me-if not then I will have failed this Holy God and I don't want to always do so. The thrill you speak of is love for God John-I am thrilled to understand that and see that in you-thank for sharing this.
My Unitarian son was asking me the other day, "Do you believe in verbal plenary inspiration, Dad?" If I had said "yes," the fight would have been on. He's a lawyer , 38 years old and a sharp son of a gun. So I said this: "What I believe, son, is the thrill I experience as I study this book and a truth jumps out and hits me right between the eyes !! The mesh that is one thought moving into another thought, expressed hundreds of years apart but making perfect sense as you read them together, well, that is all the "proof" of inspiration I need. When it is all said and done, The Bible is extemely important to me because it takes me from the center of my world and puts Another's opinion there - one that has been proven over the centuries. " And so I study and share and my son nods his head And, hopefully Dad has scored one for th
e Kipper !!
cd: Rest assured that if they become silent they are listening- to receive a nod is to get agreement-well done. My son is at odds with my beliefs also but it helps me to remember that those who loved Jesus the most is those He forgave the most-these usually end up being the strongest preachers of Gods word- so with my son I see hope beyond the drugs,Homo tendencies, fornication and the love of using others to have gain as my God is stronger than those weakinesses.So with that thought ever couple of years I try again. This year at Christmas he watched the Passion of Christ with me and later that night I heard him playing the DVD again-hope grows.
No more noble an effort on my part than what you do with the Word in your world. Some of your methods are disagreeable to me. But you get this same thrill (I assume) not so much as you study but as you reach out in ministry -- Street Preacher Style. Our functions are different but the passion is of the same source.
jd
cd: Good to see you are not in total disagreement with Street Preaching John. Would you care to go and wittiness some of that in person in order to better understand why we preach in the manner we do? New Orleans Mardi Gras Tues Feb 23- March 1 -We have food and lodging but the expense for the trip is "Dutch". Regardless of choice-thank you for sharing a part of yourself John as now I understand you more:-)
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Dean Moore" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
----- Original Message -----
Sent: 1/6/2006 3:38:57 AM
Subject: Re: Re: [TruthTalk] Christ as the incarnate God
Hello Bill. thanks for the post and the thoughts. Apparently, I missed reading the last sentence or two below, just prior to Dean's quote of Wesley.
cd: John what I meant by stating:" You on the other hand are a different matter entirely" in the last couple of sentences is that you view /search thing differently then I . I just accept things at some point in my search ESP when I realize there are some things will never be understood while in this flesh. -you go deeper with the why/how -I think but realize I also searched this long and hard many times thur the years.I think I am saying I have rest with Christ being God you want more-make sense?
