I want you to know something. Please feel free to think! As a matter of fact it is your God given responsiblity to think. Please wrestle, toil, struggle, fight, pray, and refuse to accept any answer that you aren’t comfortable with. Ask lots of questions and then think some more. Why do I say that? Well many people feel they have the market cornered on God’s truth. No they will not say that, but all you need to do is think differently than them and they become hostile. They throw out things such as “you don’t believe in the bible” (as if our faith is in the bible, it is in who the bible points to) or they make up names for you. Call you a sheeple, idiot, dumb, or some other outrageous thing. Maybe some won’t go that far, but they ridicule you. Write you off. But I want you think!
Why do I want you think? So when you quote something, or when you die on a hill it is your truth, not someone elses. Regardless of the time they spent in seminary and all of the letters that follow their name. Read some things you don’t agree with so at least when you disagree you don’t sound like a parrot or a clone. Yes their are many great man that walked before us, and we stand on the shoulders of giants, but that doesn’t mean we must accept their truth as our truth and ulimately God’s truth. So if you come on here quoting somebody else as a response to something please understand you will be engaged if you don’t like it please feel free to go to the sites that agree with everything that you believe so that you can feel secure and safe.
Finally I appreciate the opportunity I have had to have conversations with you all. I am grateful that I have been able to blessed by this gift called an internet that has been a curse in many of lives and have destroyed many of families. I hope that whatever I post and whatever Tyris post though you may or may not disagree at least challenges you. I may believe differently than you but my goal is to get you to think. Once again 1 Corinthians 15 is our truth for this is the Gospel Paul preached. After that everything is open for discussion. I have my beliefs and really many times I don’t want you to believe like me because tomorrow that may change. Anyway I will be extremely busy until the middle of next week so I may approve comments but have little interaction and maybe no posting until next weekend some time. I may post some pictures from the 116 concert though!
Great post Lionel. It’s amazing how our faith can grow by leaps and bounds when we start thinking for ourselves while having the humility to admit we aren’t perfect?
Great post! I think most Christians are intimidated with the evolution/creation debate, for that very reason, they (the Christians) don’t want to think. Christians and non-Christians presuppose that discoveries of man and interpretations of those discoveries establish the Bible as ultimate truth. The Bible is God’s revealed truth whether mankind accepts it or not. Gods revalation, like Packer said “is a divine activity not a human achievement”, it is God reaching down to man, revealing himself to man. Thanks.
Exactly!!
The problem is that most of the time we think we are deep because we can regurgitate all that we have read or listened too. Very rarely does the average Christian really have their own opinions or ask their own questions. We need to think and understand God’s word for ourselves and not take everything someone says for granted. They may be correct but it’s better to research and know they are correct rather than just assume they are because they have written a book or stand in a pulpit.
Free to think …love it cause when are free to think, we can then be free to act!!!
Blessings, brother.
“Great minds think alike,” great post! It’s true, free thinking is a must for true christian grow and development! I must be careful when I say free thinking, because someone may apply that to being free to believe and ascribe to any and every kind of doctrine because it apeals to your personality trait or selfesh desire! When I say free thinking, I mean the freedom to receive direct from scripture and the Holy Spirit what is revealed to you, based on your the understanding, interpretation and illumination the Lord gives you. Thoughts not completing influenced by former writers! This is scary for some christians, but I would rather trust the Holy Spirit’s counsel and leading than men! This is not to say we devalue the great teachings of the saints of old and new! It just mean when we read commentaries and those teachings, we read them through the lense of scripture and with the blessings of the Holy Spirit!
If you’re not willing to have your beliefs challenged then you must not be that strongly convinced of them. I may not agree with someone on a point but I appreciate the challenge to my beliefs. Your blog is a real blessing, brother. Keep at it. Bless you and your family.
Lionel-
I trust that the 116 concert went well. I am glad for your insightful esteem of “holy hip hop,” and passion to see it draw people to the God inspiring it.
I’ve reflected for a few days about how to respond to this post. I’ve considered several possible tones and messages. My conclusion, before I go to sleep tonight, is that I would rather (at least initially) discuss the matter by email than in this comment thread. Send me a note if you’re OK with that. If WordPress doesn’t pass on the email I enter to submit comments, my address is modlyzko@yahoo.com
Have a blessed Sunday,
Mike Odlyzko