This little piggy went to verses.
This little piggy stayed wrong.
This little piggy had an office.
This little piggy had none.
This little piggy cried, "Toot! Toot! Toot! Peanut Butter."
Gal 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
Pigs have never made good pets. I like them best as pork barbeque! But we should not bite off more than we can chew!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Moving On
For some time I have been studying verses that seemed difficult to understand, and I found myself ‘re-arranging’ the phrases to fit my doctrine, as other men do, but I am only responsible for my own. It’s a typical situation to fall into, just like some traditional denominational brethren change, for example ....
Mark 16:16-a He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
.... to be ‘He that believeth shall be saved and should be baptized.’
I was doing the same thing by twisting ....
1 Thess 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
I turned it into ‘We shall be caught up in the clouds to ever be with the Lord in the air,’ in order to preserve a paradine that we will live eternally in the heavens. But the verse says we will be forever ‘with the Lord’ .... not ‘in the air’ forever. The verse does not say that we will be in heaven forever with the Lord. We will be in His presence, in a different sense than we experience it now spiritually, for we will actually see Him when He appears. So if we want to know where we will be .... we can find out where He will be. Does anyone have any idea where He desires to live?
In my moving on, I realize that if verses are hard for us, it may be because we are trying to force them into pre-conceived agendas, rather than hearing what they say. We must listen to the verses and be careful not to tamper with them. Regardless of whether we have charts, books, tracts, schools, friends, etc. we must be true to the Holy Scriptures, even if it means we have to admit to being wrong on some issues. I am not saying that we should not invest in those things, but that we should make revisions as needed. Whatever the cost to face the verses, financial or prestigious, it is always right to do the right thing right away and certainly better than being stubborn or proud in error because of publications or groups.
Phil 3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Certain protestant religions have trouble with ....
Eph 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
.... because they practice water baptism and also believe in spiritual baptism. It is difficult for them to acknowledge that 1 + 1 = 2. But that verse does not strain us who understand the one baptism.
In my moving on, I must admit that for several years I have been greatly disappointed by self-called ‘grace pastors’ who have refused to accept the title of the office of a bishop that GOD gave and said was a good work. They made excuses rather than submit themselves to the simple English KJV word ‘bishop’. Citing demographics, they don’t want to be associated with certain religions that call their ministers ‘bishop’ .... yet they are aligned with women claiming to be ‘pastors’. To call out for grace while opposing plain scripture is not being faithful to the word. If they had cards printed, or stationery, or pamphlets, or a church sign that said ‘Pastor’ .... making the change would be a good opportunity to witness. How often I heard them preach messages saying saints were not ‘sheep’ .... yet they use the title of ‘pastor’ that means ‘shepherd’. What hypocrisy! Telling others not to substitute the KJV word ‘dispensation’ .... while they used The Living Bible’s word ‘pastor’ to replace the KJV’s ‘bishop.’ With their mouths they claimed to be KJV, but in practice, they were not. Quite honestly, I was embarrassed for them and by them. They were a stumblingblock to the men who desire the office of a bishop.
1 Tim 3:1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
In my moving on, I have done much closer ‘word’ examination. I have discovered that ‘going to the Greek’ (although not necessary) can be helpful, especially in preventing the building of doctrines on premise. Lesson learned. I accept responsibility for trusting some studies of preachers that I respected. I was guilty of believing what I thought had been researched by someone else, rather than relying on my own digging. I allowed myself to be persuaded by someone else that I thought studied as much as I did, and that I trusted to be a true KJV person. I understand anyone can be wrong and make mistakes, but when we are confronted with ‘the words on the page’ of scripture, we should let it move us in line with it. Working the ministry is important to me, and I still believe in right division and the dispensation of grace committed to the apostle Paul. However, I am being careful not to divide things that are not divided by God.
In my moving on, I wish ill toward no one. I intend to display my ‘convictions’ publically and not ‘shut my mouth’ about them, even if it means dying on a hill.
Rom 12:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil.
Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"
Mark 16:16-a He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
.... to be ‘He that believeth shall be saved and should be baptized.’
I was doing the same thing by twisting ....
1 Thess 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
I turned it into ‘We shall be caught up in the clouds to ever be with the Lord in the air,’ in order to preserve a paradine that we will live eternally in the heavens. But the verse says we will be forever ‘with the Lord’ .... not ‘in the air’ forever. The verse does not say that we will be in heaven forever with the Lord. We will be in His presence, in a different sense than we experience it now spiritually, for we will actually see Him when He appears. So if we want to know where we will be .... we can find out where He will be. Does anyone have any idea where He desires to live?
In my moving on, I realize that if verses are hard for us, it may be because we are trying to force them into pre-conceived agendas, rather than hearing what they say. We must listen to the verses and be careful not to tamper with them. Regardless of whether we have charts, books, tracts, schools, friends, etc. we must be true to the Holy Scriptures, even if it means we have to admit to being wrong on some issues. I am not saying that we should not invest in those things, but that we should make revisions as needed. Whatever the cost to face the verses, financial or prestigious, it is always right to do the right thing right away and certainly better than being stubborn or proud in error because of publications or groups.
Phil 3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Certain protestant religions have trouble with ....
Eph 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
.... because they practice water baptism and also believe in spiritual baptism. It is difficult for them to acknowledge that 1 + 1 = 2. But that verse does not strain us who understand the one baptism.
In my moving on, I must admit that for several years I have been greatly disappointed by self-called ‘grace pastors’ who have refused to accept the title of the office of a bishop that GOD gave and said was a good work. They made excuses rather than submit themselves to the simple English KJV word ‘bishop’. Citing demographics, they don’t want to be associated with certain religions that call their ministers ‘bishop’ .... yet they are aligned with women claiming to be ‘pastors’. To call out for grace while opposing plain scripture is not being faithful to the word. If they had cards printed, or stationery, or pamphlets, or a church sign that said ‘Pastor’ .... making the change would be a good opportunity to witness. How often I heard them preach messages saying saints were not ‘sheep’ .... yet they use the title of ‘pastor’ that means ‘shepherd’. What hypocrisy! Telling others not to substitute the KJV word ‘dispensation’ .... while they used The Living Bible’s word ‘pastor’ to replace the KJV’s ‘bishop.’ With their mouths they claimed to be KJV, but in practice, they were not. Quite honestly, I was embarrassed for them and by them. They were a stumblingblock to the men who desire the office of a bishop.
1 Tim 3:1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
In my moving on, I have done much closer ‘word’ examination. I have discovered that ‘going to the Greek’ (although not necessary) can be helpful, especially in preventing the building of doctrines on premise. Lesson learned. I accept responsibility for trusting some studies of preachers that I respected. I was guilty of believing what I thought had been researched by someone else, rather than relying on my own digging. I allowed myself to be persuaded by someone else that I thought studied as much as I did, and that I trusted to be a true KJV person. I understand anyone can be wrong and make mistakes, but when we are confronted with ‘the words on the page’ of scripture, we should let it move us in line with it. Working the ministry is important to me, and I still believe in right division and the dispensation of grace committed to the apostle Paul. However, I am being careful not to divide things that are not divided by God.
In my moving on, I wish ill toward no one. I intend to display my ‘convictions’ publically and not ‘shut my mouth’ about them, even if it means dying on a hill.
Rom 12:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil.
Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Back Home
We’ve been traveling for nearly three weeks, and just returned home. The trip had several agendas, business, pleasure, and ministry. We toured a factory with a possibility of purchasing new equipment; we enjoyed some fun in the sun in sunny Florida; and we attended and preached at the Bible conference at Royal Grace in North Carolina. So we’ve had some leisure time to study the Bible with friends, as well as minister the gospel to folks we met along the way in our travels. We were happy to have a company of saints with us the entire time! Now, it’s back to work! It all waited on us, so we have lots of ‘catching up’ to do where we’ve been gone!
We’ll leave you with this thought:
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Think about it!
We’ll leave you with this thought:
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Think about it!
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