Quora answers
Here are some answers to questions which I have attempted on the social media forum Quora. It needs tidying up, but at least this is a start.
Answers about Jesus, Christianity
and the Bible
David
McKay, I have been musing about Jesus since Christmas Day, 1957
What a great
question! Someone could write a great book, answering this. The Bible writers
give a variety of answers, which could be catalogued and analysed, and found to
complement one another beautifully.
Here are a few selections:
In Genesis chapter 1, God says
he has made people in his image “to fill the earth and subdue it.”
In Deuteronomy chapter 6, God
commands his people to love him with all their heart, and all their soul and
all their might.
In Leviticus 19, his people
are told to love one another.
In Micah 6:8 God says he wants
his people to “do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with him.”
In John 10 Jesus tells us God
sent him to give us an abundant life.
In Psalm 1 we are told God
wants his people to love his words and meditate on them, and promises to make
us fruitful and satisfied when we honour him in this way.
In Revelation chapters 21 and
22, we see God’s people living with him forever in a renewed heavenly Earth,
where all suffering and sickness have been abolished and where living under
Jesus’ kingship is wonderfully and eternally fulfilling.
Just a few quick thoughts!
Luke
Mathew and David
Wilmshurst upvoted this
David
McKay, I have been musing about Jesus since Christmas Day, 1957
He is the promised Prophet,
Priest and King.
Trusting in him and connecting
to him restores us to fellowship with God.
Andrew
Kroiter upvoted this
David
McKay, I have been musing about Jesus since Christmas Day, 1957
Yes! I believe
in Jesus because I believe that what the Bible says about him is true. I have
spent my life believing that what my mother and father told me about Jesus is
the truth.
In examining the Bible for
myself, I have found that it claims to be the message from God to us, it seems
to be what it claims for itself, and it proves to be the case, the more it is
investigated.
I believe that Jesus really is
who he claims to be, and that he really did die for my sins, and lives today
and is enabling me to keep living for him, until he brings me into his kingdom
when I die.
Varghese Thomas upvoted this
David
McKay, I have been musing about Jesus since Christmas Day, 1957
The New International Version
is harder, but it's a good version to use for a native English speaker.
David
McKay, Christian
The King James
Version of the Bible which we use today is the 1769 revision. It uses Jacobean
English, which is unfamiliar to most people today. When people attempt to mimic
this language, they show immediately that they haven't grasped its structure.
The translators, working in
the early 1600s, only had a few late manuscripts to guide them.
It is a worthy translation
which has stood the test of time. If someone familiar with the dialect reads it
to you, it is mostly understandable. You will get the meaning of strange words
from the context.
The English Standard Version,
completed this century, is a light revision of the 1971 Revised Standard
Version. The sentences are shorter, and the language is more familiar, though
not as easy to read as other contemporary translations, such as the New
International Version.
The translators had a wealth
of manuscripts to guide them.
Sometimes too much is claimed
for both of these translations. Some people say that the King James Version is
the only inspired English translation. But there are no inspired translations.
Only the original autographs, which we no longer possess, are without error.
Some people say the ESV is the
most reliable version because it is thought to be more literal, but this also
is misleading. There are many excellent English translations, including the KJV
and ESV, the NIV, the New Living Translation, the Christian Standard Bible and
others.
Andrew
Kroiter, Peter Wheeler, and James
Rosten upvoted this
David
McKay, I have been musing about Jesus since Christmas Day, 1957
Thousands of
people recently left churches in a Scandinavian country (I think), when
atheists pointed out how to leave the state church and stop paying automatic
church taxes.
But should this concern
Christians? These people were not Christians in the first place.
Surely there should not be a
state church. People should not be coerced into being nominal Christians.
However, worldwide, the church
is not declining, but growing. In many countries the church is growing faster
than the population.
David
McKay, The best book to read is the Bible
Without a doubt, the Bible.
It shocks me because it shows
me that I am a sinner, in need of salvation from the punishment I am due for my
rebellion against the God who made me.
It shocks me because it shows
me the wonderful kindness of God to me in sending Jesus to die for my sin.
It also shocks me because
God’s standard of justice is different from our concept of fairness. We think
we want to earn God’s favour, without realising how impossible that would be.
I think the parable of the
workers in the vineyard shows how skewed our values are. In this story the farm
owner kindly gives all of his workers what they need, but we think the people
who worked longer deserve more than enough to live on, and the people who were
only able to work for an hour should be made to live meagrely. But God is more
generous!
The Bible also shocks me
because of the numerous cultural differences between how people lived in
ancient times compared with how we live today.
But, without question, the
most shocking thing in the whole Bible is its teaching that God knows
everything, is everywhere present, and is all-powerful. God is sovereign over
his creation. Yes, we do have real choices, but those choices are within the
plan of God. God does not bow to us: we must bow to him, whether willingly, or
unwillingly.
I’ve been reading it now for
around fifty-nine years and am still captivated by it. I’m currently reading it
through completely for about the fifteenth time.
80 Views · 4 Upvotes
David
McKay, The best book to read is the Bible
Millions! There are 66 books
in the Bible and millions of books that aren’t!
35 Views · 3 Upvotes
David
Wilmshurst and David Williams upvoted this
David
McKay, The best advice I ever got was to put my faith in Jesus
Christ
I would like it
to be a song that reminds me that Jesus died for me, and that he has fully paid
for my sins, and I can trust him to bring me home to be with him forever.
Here’s one such song: Jesus
Paid It All
This question previously had
details. They are now in a comment.
Michelle
Clark and David Williams upvoted this
David
McKay, I have been musing about Jesus since Christmas Day, 1957
I am currently
attending a Bible study led by our minister. In our group, we read the passage
of Scripture which the previous Sunday’s sermon was based on. At the service,
we may have had a Bible reading of paragraph or two, but often the sermon is
based on several chapters of the Bible. We read the whole section the sermon
was based on.
We then use a version of the
so-called Swedish method for Bible study. Each person writes down something
that stuck out while we were reading through the passage. Then, we write down
something that raised questions. And then we write how we think the passage
applied to us personally.
When we discuss what we wrote,
if we tell the group of something that we don’t understand from the passage,
our minister wants the person raising this to be the first to attempt an
answer. We are now used to this innovation and can see the sense of it.
This is a good way of studying
the Bible together. I especially like the opportunity of reading a few chapters
together, aloud. Some Bible study groups spend a lot of time chatting, talking
about what the Bible means to me personally, but not trying to figure out
firstly what the author intended to say (both the Divine Author and the human
author).
At the end of our time
together, we pray for one another. This is short, but still valued.
One unusual feature of our group
is that it is intended for men who may not be able to come every week, and is
held on Tuesday mornings. We mainly have shift workers, people who work in the
afternoon, or people, like me, who, as a senior citizen, no longer enjoy going
out at night.
David
McKay, I have been musing about Jesus since Christmas Day, 1957
As others have
said, if you believe in God, who made everything, how is it difficult to
believe that he can control his own creation? Christians also believe that this
God brought his own Son back to life again, after he died on the cross for our
sins.
We believe that God knows
everything, is present everywhere and can do anything he desires. So it is not
hard to say The Apostles’ Creed, with conviction:
I believe in God, the Father
Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his
only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin
Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.
On the third day, he rose
again; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the
resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
David
Wilmshurst and David Williams upvoted this
David
McKay, I have spent over 55 years reading and studying the Bible.
I grew up in a
church which emphasised the human response to God’s invitation. We were taught
that if we “ask Jesus into our heart” or “make a decision to follow Christ” we
have a guaranteed ticket to heaven. Parents were taught that their children
were safe if they had performed these requirements, even if they stopped going
to church, stopped believing in Jesus, and even if they lived lives of flagrant
disobedience to God. Once saved, always saved. Simple!
This teaching was coming from
the congregation and from voluntary leaders, not clergy. I remember one
minister querying Easy believism.
I think the expression is
dangerous if it leads people to believe that Jesus’ death was intended to give
us a means to escape God’s judgment, and allow us to go back to ignoring, or
even rebelling against God.
But, the Bible does teach
unambiguously that the One who rescues us from the punishment due for our
ignoring and rebelling against God, also preserves us and enables us to live
lives that are pleasing to God, and that we can have confidence that he will
bring us to live forever with him when we die.
Some people see all the
warnings against turning away from Christ, and understand them to be teaching
that we can lose our salvation. But heeding the warnings keeps us from falling
away. They are seriously meant! Some Christians embrace the promises, but
ignore the threats. Others do the opposite. But we must develop a theology
which takes both warnings and promises into account.
God uses both to keep us on
the path.
Once saved, always
saved? The preservation of the saints is a better expression
of biblical teaching.
Anne Harris Wyckoff upvoted this
David
McKay, The best book to read is the Bible
I’d give each
household a Bible in their own language. And some great children’s books, such
as The Chronicles Of Narnia. That’s well over 70 books, and should make a great
starter to their library.
Michelle
Clark and Nick
Caudill upvoted this
David
McKay, former Piano and Music Theory teacher at Mitchell
Conservatorium, Bathurst (2000-2012)
I don’t limit
myself. I have sometimes read several at a time, sometimes picked at several at
a time, sometimes read the forewords of several, and nothing past that!
I enjoy reading the Bible
through, and sometimes read a part of the Pentateuch [the first five books],
part of one of the prophets, a few psalms, a chapter or two from a Gospel and a
chapter or two from an Epistle, and proceed in that fashion, until I have read
the 929 books in the First Testament and the 260 books in the New Testament.
And sometimes, I read just one
book and nothing else until I have finished it.
David
McKay, Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you.
According to
Revelation, Christians don’t go to heaven. Heaven comes down to us. When a
Christian dies, going to be with Christ in heaven is temporary; it is only
until the end of all things, when Christ brings us with him to a renewed
heavenly earth, where there is no pain or suffering and no tears and where we
are with Christ forever.
The other day I saw someone
crying after the breakup of a relationship. It was so sad. I thought, “What an
awful world we live in. How can people do these things to one another!” But,
Revelation promises us a life with our God where there is no more crying
because “the former things are passed away.” Come, Lord Jesus!
These promises are for
everyone who stops living for themselves and who trusts in Jesus’ death, which
takes away the punishment due for our rebellion against God and cruelty to one
another.
David
McKay, Christian
2.
Pray
3.
Remember they were children once, and didn’t agree with
everything their parents believed.
David
McKay, I have been musing about Jesus since Christmas Day, 1957
Some Christians
say that we should not pray to Jesus, but only to God the Father, because Jesus
said, in the Lord’s Prayer, This, then, is how you should pray:
‘“Our Father in heaven …”
Now, of course, we should pray
to our Father. Jesus taught us to, and encourages us to.
But, throughout the New
Testament there are references to people “calling on Jesus’ name” and talking
to him. There aren’t a lot of references, but there are more than you might
realise. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, Paul even says that Christians are people
who call on Jesus’ name.
The very first prayer in Acts
is a prayer to the Lord to choose a replacement for Judas who betrayed him. The
most natural reading of this is that the apostles are praying to the Lord
Jesus.
When Jesus tells us in the
Lord’s prayer to pray by saying Our Father, is he saying that we must not pray
to him, or is he telling us how to pray to our Father?
When Jesus tells us in John
chapters 14, 15 and 16 that he is the only way to the Father and gives his
disciples instructions about life after he has ascended, and prays to the
Father in John 17, is he telling us that we cannot speak to him?
When Thomas discovers the
grand truth about Jesus and addresses Jesus with “My Lord and my God,” isn’t
this an example for us to follow?
When Paul says “Marana tha
(our Lord, come!) at the end of one of his letters and when the apostle John
says “Come Lord Jesus” at the end of Revelation, are these not invitations to
us to also join these prayers of longing for his return?
I think everyone who loves
Jesus would want to sing this song to him. (As long as they’re not put off by
the olde world style of poetry.) It is the most natural thing in the world to
talk to Jesus our Saviour and sing to him.
Nick
Caudill upvoted this
David
McKay, The best book to read is the Bible
Originally
Answered: What is the most interesting thing you ever learned? · Remove Banner
I have been reading the Bible
since 1959, I think, when I was about six. I find it fascinating, and have
enjoyed the past fifty-eight years growing in my understanding of it in English
and in Greek and Hebrew. I haven’t tackled Aramaic, so far, and may not.
Reading it through systematically since 2005 has been rewarding and
enlightening.
David
McKay, I have been musing about Jesus since Christmas Day, 1957
If you are not
interested to talk to them, say so. It can’t be easy being obliged to go
door-knocking. I’ve Had lots of JWs call on me. I think only one was a little
unpleasant, and that might have been brought on by my know-it-all manner. I
usually attempt to share the Christian message with my callers, but am not sure
how successful it is.
David
Wilmshurst, Anne Harris Wyckoff, and Nick
Caudill upvoted this
David
McKay, Making others happy and being thankful to God is a big part
of it.
David
McKay, Christian
How can believers in God
explain the killing of the church folk in Texas? How can a loving, all-knowing,
all-powerful God allow this to happen to his own people?
When Christians suffer, they know that they are fellow-sufferers with the perfect, sinless, Son of God, who died for our sins, and who was cruelly treated by people who hated him.
In the Letter to the Hebrew Christians, the writer (Luke?) has a lengthy passage which Christians often call The Heroes of Faith. (It sounds more exciting than Chapter 11.)
In this wonderful passage he reminds us of the future blessings which will come to all of those who trust in Jesus. Towards the end of the chapter he says that the people he is speaking of
through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
When Christians suffer, they know that they are fellow-sufferers with the perfect, sinless, Son of God, who died for our sins, and who was cruelly treated by people who hated him.
In the Letter to the Hebrew Christians, the writer (Luke?) has a lengthy passage which Christians often call The Heroes of Faith. (It sounds more exciting than Chapter 11.)
In this wonderful passage he reminds us of the future blessings which will come to all of those who trust in Jesus. Towards the end of the chapter he says that the people he is speaking of
through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
But, in case we think that the Christian life is
always easy, he goes on to say:
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawn in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and ill-treated – the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawn in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and ill-treated – the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
Then he sums up everything that he has said with:
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great
cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that
so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for
us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For
the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and
sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who
endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and
lose heart.
And, the apostle Paul says that if death is the end
of everything, we are the most miserable of all people. But, he says, the
resurrection of Jesus shows that one day God will resurrect all those who love
Jesus to live with him forever in a wonderful, renewed heavenly earth. (See
Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians chapter 15.)
David
McKay, I have been musing about Jesus since Christmas Day, 1957
1.
My father and mother taught me to put my faith in Jesus
Christ. They taught me that Jesus is trustworthy, like no one else is. They
taught me that he died to enable everyone who trusts in him to be friends with
God. I am so grateful to have been brought up to know the One who is the way,
the truth and the life. There is no piece of advice greater than this.
2.
But, here is a piece of practical advice I got from my
dear future father-in-law. It was so helpful when he first gave it, and it’s
something that is always worth remembering.
When I was about twenty, my
1968 Morris Mini Deluxe’s brakes needed servicing. I went to a shop
called Better Brakes and the serviceman said “Bad news, mate.
It’s going to cost you $200 to fix them.” That was a lot of money in 1972! I
was receiving a teacher trainee’s scholarship of $28 per fortnight, and was
also getting a little money from charging about $5 per hour for piano lessons.
Mr Sims said: “David, get a
second opinion. Go to Delore Motors and get a quote for repairs - they’re a
Morris dealership.” The repairman at Delore Motors said “Bad news, mate. It’s
going to cost you $50.”
You can guess where I left my
car. But when I went back to collect it, and pay for the repairs, the
serviceman said “Good News, mate. We were able to do it for $33.”
It was worth getting the
second quote!
But, over the course of my
life, other offers from philosophers, religious teachers, and people who have advice
on how to live your life, have never come within a hundred miles of the freedom
and friendship with God that I have received at no cost from Jesus. No need for
a second quote there!
David
Wilmshurst and David Williams upvoted this
David
McKay, Explorer of the Bible and theology since about 1965
Our minister
brought a hammer to church and explained the significance of Luther posting his
95 theses and reminded us about salvation by God’s grace alone through faith
alone in Christ alone. He reminded us that the Bible alone is our ultimate
authority.
David
McKay, Christian
While many
people follow the politics and customs and religion in which they were raised,
quite a few don’t. There are plenty of folk who have changed to a different
philosophy or religion from their parents’ one.
In our church, we do have a
family which includes a couple in their nineties, some of their children, some
of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But, this is unusual. There are
plenty of people also who embraced faith in Jesus Christ later in life. In my
own case, I was raised as a Christian, but my brothers and sisters have not
continued in the religion of their parents, and not all of my children have
either.
One night in a church in
Scotland, a reporter commented that the reason the folk there were Christians,
was because they were brought up as Christians. The minister mused about this,
and asked those present if this was true of them. On that evening in question,
there was not a single person present who had been raised as a Christian.
Everyone there had converted later in life.
When folk who are
non-believers ask this question, I often wonder if they were raised as
agnostics or atheists. If they were not, should they not consider the
possibility that other people might also be following a philosophy or religion,
having thought things through, just like their unbelieving friends?
Anne Harris Wyckoff upvoted this
David
McKay, It's a wonderful life
Originally
Answered: What made you realize your purpose in life? · Remove Banner
Knowing that God loves me,
that Jesus died for me, and that I belong to my God and Saviour gives me a
purpose in life. I began to understand this nearly sixty years ago, when I
first began to trust in Jesus.
Finding that this awkward, clumsy
person finds playing the piano easy and enjoyable has given me something I can
do, earn a living from, and share with others. Many people play much better
than I do, but the woods would be very silent if no birds sang, except those
who sang best.
I always enjoy playing Dizzy
Fingers:
David
McKay, I have spent over 55 years reading and studying the Bible.
My Oxford
dictionary defines murder as unlawful, premeditated killing. It defines killing
more broadly as causing the death of a person or animal.
Does this help you to think
through your question?
57 Views
David
Wilmshurst upvoted this
David
McKay, Christian
I was raised as a Christian. I
have tried to imagine that there is no God, but can’t do it; not for one
moment. The Bible’s message about God’s love for us, shown in sending Jesus to
be our Saviour, Lord and Friend makes sense to me, as nothing else does.
Believing God’s warnings and
promises, which I read in the Bible, is easy for me. I don’t have enough faith
to be an atheist.
David
McKay, I have spent over 55 years reading and studying the Bible.
This story is in
the very first book of the Bible: Genesis. It is in chapter 22. But you will
understand the story better, if you read the book of Genesis, or at least read
from chapter 12. The outcome of the story shows this was a unique event and
that God does not want us to kill our children.
David
McKay, It's a wonderful life
Or I could say even earlier,
on 25th December, 1957, when my mother explained to me about Jesus coming into
the world to bring us peace with God.
Maybe c. All of the above
Michelle
Clark, David Wilmshurst, and Nathan
Ketsdever upvoted this
David
McKay, I have spent over 55 years reading and studying the Bible.
Thanks for the
question, Michelle. The kind of hermeneutics I use when reading the Bible? I
believe that the Bible, in both First and New Testaments, is the Word of God,
is authoritative and completely trustworthy.
I think The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy is
a reasonable articulation of the high view Christians should have of the
Scriptures.
Beginning with this confidence
in the Bible as God’s Word, I seek to understand what the human authors meant
when they wrote, and what God intended in moving them to write.
I try to ascertain how the
parts of the Bible relate to one another, and attempt to interpret an
individual passage or book or collection, in the light of the rest of that
writer’s corpus, and in the light of the whole Bible.
It is important to study what
Christians throughout the ages have believed what the Bible means to say, in
the light of what it appears to be saying.
I attempt to study the Bible
with the best means available to me, including studying it in its original
languages, as best I can, and listening to others with more ability than mine,
who have studied it.
David
Wilmshurst upvoted this
David
McKay, I have been musing about Jesus since Christmas Day, 1957
If two
Christians have totally conflicting, mutually exclusive understandings of how
to be saved, then is it reasonable to assume that at least one of them isn’t
really in a close, personal relationship with Jesus?
May I suggest an answer by comparing this question with another?
May I suggest an answer by comparing this question with another?
If two musicians have totally
conflicting, mutually exclusive understandings of what makes a musician, is it
reasonable to assume that one of them isn’t really a musician at all?
But what if both of them have no musical skill at all, but plenty of opinions? What if both of them are excellent musicians, but are arrogant and not willing to listen to someone else?
But what if both of them have no musical skill at all, but plenty of opinions? What if both of them are excellent musicians, but are arrogant and not willing to listen to someone else?
I think the question is a bit
of a setup, because in the real world, two Christians would have some things in
common. Their views would not be totally conflicting. But, like our musicians,
it is possible that both of these people are Christians, none of them are, or
that only one of them is.
David
McKay, I have spent over 55 years reading and studying the Bible.
As a Christian, I believe that
the Bible is trustworthy and is a reliable guide to life. I have done my best
to study Jehovah’s Witness teachings, and I think they are different from what
the Bible teaches. I have twice gone through a course with a Jehovah’s Witness
man, working through a little book called something like What the
Bible really teaches, but, both times, and quite
reasonably, the Jehovah’s Witness man gave up on me.
As I studied the little book, and also the
Jehovah’s Witness New World Translation Bible, I couldn’t help noticing that
the teachings of the book were different from what I find in their Bible, and
certainly from what I found in regular Bibles.
The biggest difference was in what their book says
about Jesus, which was quite different from what their Bible, and regular Bibles
say.
The booklet puts Jesus in a much lower place than
the Jehovah’s Witness Bible does, and lower again from the exalted position we
find him in, in the real Bible.
Some of what Jehovah’s Witnesses say is true, but
there is a lot of error mixed in with the true things.
The best place to find truth is in the Bible
itself. You can read reliably translated Bibles at Bible Gateway
If you would like to start reading the Bible, you
could begin with Mark, the shortest Gospel.
David
Wilmshurst upvoted this
David
McKay, I have spent over 55 years reading and studying the Bible.
2.
Read a Gospel.
3.
Read the short books in the New Testament
4. Read the short books in the
First Testament
5. Then, read a psalm a day.
6. By now, you may be ready to
read through the Bible systematically, reading three or four chapters of the
First Testament, a psalm and a chapter or two from the New Testament.
Reading the Bible itself is
the best way I know for getting to know the Bible. You don’t have to do it
alone. I’m reading the Bible with my wife, in a study group, where the emphasis
is on reading the Bible itself, we hear it read and explained in church each
week, and I’m reading it long-distance over the phone with a young man who
lives 300 kilometres away. All of this helps.
You might find this book
useful.
There are lots of great books
which will help you understand the Bible. I’m 65 today, and as I look back,
I’ve read lots of helpful books about the Bible, but should have spent more
time reading the Bible itself.
May God bless you as you read
his living word.
This question previously had
details. They are now in a comment.
David
Wilmshurst and David Williams upvoted this
David
McKay, Words, words, words
I like the
word faithful. Many years ago, Broughton Knox, the principal of
Sydney’s Moore College, pointed out that a faithful friend is better than a
loyal friend. The word loyal seems to imply that your friend
will stand with you, no matter what. If you do the wrong thing, she will cover
up for you.
However, he took the
word faithful to mean someone who sticks with you, no matter
what, but loves you so much she will want you to cease doing the wrong thing,
but will be there with you when you face the consequences of your wrongdoing.
The punchline is that God is
not a loyal friend, but a faithful one.
Another man, Frank Ewers,
principal of Kenmore Christian College, where I trained for Christian ministry
in the 70s, told us aspiring pastors to preach on the faithfulness of God,
which I’ve just done.
David
McKay, Christian
I enjoy
participating in serving Christ in my church, which is St Peter’s Anglican
Church, Glenbrook, in the Blue Mountains Of New South Wales, Australia. I enjoy
being involved with this congregation, because we come together to hear from
God’s Word, the Bible, to encourage one another, and to help everyone who wants
to to hear the message about forgiveness of sin, through Jesus’ death for us on
the cross.
Every Sunday we celebrate the
resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and we thank God for the new life he gives
to everyone who gives up living for themselves and hands their life over to
him. We have church members of all ages, right up into the eighties and
nineties, but lots of younger folk, too.
I would encourage you to join
a church that teaches people to read, understand and apply the living Word of
God, the Bible. There are hundreds of thousands of these churches throughout
the world, perhaps millions. The important thing is not the denomination, but
the acceptance of the authority of God’s Word.
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