Continuing the last post.

Two other things to remember when you are interpreting your bible; is to look at the Historical-Grammatical context of the text. Also remember the Scripture interprets Scripture principle. God's word will never contradict itself, it always agrees with itself. When looking at Historical and grammatical context we try to remember the time in which that book was written and we look at the language that is used in the verses. I have found that my grammer has improved dramatically since my high school days. Pronouns, participles, direct objects, etc jump out of the page as I look at God's Word indepth. Going back to God's word not contradicting itself, we have to remember to interpret based on context, starting from the ultimate context, God's purpose in giving us His word and His overall purpose to glorify Himself throught all the ages past, present, and future. The Bible is intended to be understood by the most immature mind up to the most intelligent minds, it always has applicable truths that change our lives in what ever time period we live in. I recommend reading God's Word with only you and the Holy Spirit, you can learn so much if you are willing to dive into the Bible. There are times that commentaries open up hard to understand passages, but those are only intended for you when you have exhaused your own abilities. I have found that people tend to rely on men of old to explain God's word to them and when something does not agree with what they have said, they write it off as false teaching. God never intended us to trust men over the Holy Spirit's teaching. The only way that we are going to mature is if we spend time in His word, learning what He has to teach us and praying for direction as we do this.

What makes you who you are

One of the reasons for this post is to let people know who I am and what I believe. Hermneutics is the foundation of your theology. Hermneutics in its simpliest definition is: the science of interpretation. There are many things that are involved in interpretation, but one of the prime things in interpreting is "Context". I personally believe that the correct way to interpret is literally. Now we do have to realize that there are portions of scripture that are not meant for exact literal translations, such as Nebuchadnezzer's dream of the "man", but in situations like this we are not left to our own minds to explain what this means, the bible has the interpretation. There will be more to come in the future...

Spotless what we will be...

I spend the majority of my days doing nothing, I once complained that I did not have enough time to study God's word, to prepare lessons and sermons so that God could us me. Now I do not have a job, which may be the answer that I was wanting, and I spend the majority of my free time doing nothing. Oh wretched man that I am. That does not exactly fit into Paul's context, but I understand that I will not always do what my spirit desires and what the Holy Spirit convicts me to do. We are free creatures, left to do what we will with our lives, but those who are saved have the freedom from the former bondage of sin to live righteously in Christ. Peter tells us that we have been given all things for life and godliness, of which I am extremely thankful for. But I do not always live godly. I always think about the Bema seat judgment that I will face one day. I realize that I will stand before the one that I love above all else, Jesus Christ, and I will have to give an account for the sins that I willing committed. The sins that the Holy Spirit, urged me not to commit and I ignored Him. Tears are the first thing that I can think of when I think of that moment, I understand that I have been forgive for all my sins, but each sin that will be questioned all that I can think of is the sacrifice that Christ made so that I did not have to be in bondage to sins. I believe that I do not have to commit a single sin after I am saved, that does not me that I won't, but before my salvation I could do nothing but live in sin. I also know that there is a wonderful event that occurs after that time, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. This is the time when the Church is married to her bridegroom, Jesus Christ, to live with Him for the rest of eternity. They say that he Rapture is our blessed hope, and it is. Why is it, maybe because it is the starting point for the events leading to the marriage. I encourage everyone to think of these things that were mentioned, we are a heavenly people and our citizenship is in heaven, we are a new creation, which does not belong in this world, but in heaven. Focus on heaven, on the moment when we will be presented as the spotless Bride to Christ the spotless Lamb.

Working with youth

I have spent the last 3 1/2 to 4 years working with the youth in my local church, before that I had little to no experience working with youth in that capacity. I can say that I have learned a lot during these years and I am trying to shape my philosophy around events I have experienced through those years along with all of the technical things that I have learned throughout my bible college career. There are several things that come to my mind at first.
1. Youth (believers) are just as responsible to "work out their own salvation with fear and trembling" as adults are. They have received their spiritual gifts and are expected to use them just as adults. We all stand before Christ after the rapture and will given an account for what we have done. Now with youth, just as with an immature believer there needs to be direction by a more mature believe to guide them along. It is very important for teens and children to have an accountability partner to help them along, and I would say a peer would be the best at this, along with a parent or adult in the congregation.
2. I believe that music tends to affect teens in a more persuasive way than it does an adult. Teens are defined by their peers by the music that they listen too. If a teen chooses to separate himself or herself from the world in dress, music, and attitude in general, then they will need someone to encourage them along this narrow, seldom traveled road. If they have a peer that makes that choice with them, that can make all of the difference. When we minister to youth it is very important to be separate from the world because they are at that age when the world and their flesh is constantly tempting them to come along and enjoy all it has to offer. The last thing they need is a confirmation from their youth leader or church that the world is an okay place to be in.
3. I believe that when we teach teens and children, that we must not sacrifice doctrine for entertainment. Now it can be difficult to teach youth about foundational doctrines if we don't make it interesting at their level, but try and remember what made doctrine interesting to you and apply those same attractions. I tend to believe that teaching on the supernatural things of the rapture and millennium, glorified bodies and the war of Armageddon attract a lot of attention for a youth. If they are interested in the bible then teaching it is not difficult at all.

Finally we have to remember that ultimately the Holy Spirit does the teaching and the person makes the decision if they are going to learn or apply those things taught, to their lives. I struggle with that part tremendously. If we can instill a passion for God's word in their lives and a passion for doing what is right then they will grow in Christ-likeness without a doubt.