The Meaning Of Life

If you’ve just came across my page, or have been following and I’ve confused you, let me restate the purpose of this.

First, allow to say;
1. I’m not an ordained minister
2. I have no ministry
3. I’m not associated with any certain denomination
4. I consider myself a “Bible Christian”, and while I’m not of the Jewish faith, I consider myself a “spiritual Jew” because Christ was a Jew and as “Christians” who follow Christ, I feel I must follow first and foremost what Jesus told me to follow, but also what the Jews follow since He was Jewish. I don’t follow the Jews to the point that I would have crucified Jesus, but rather I follow the Torah which is what most Jews followed and still do today.

What I write is simply my own thoughts and perceptions of studying the Bible. I have a very difficult time trusting man, man has a history of misinterpreting the Bible and quite honestly, brain-washing their parishioners. Unfortunately, most do not read or study the Bible for themselves, they simply go to church, listen to what their pastor says, and takes it to heart, which is unfortunate. If you ask someone a religious question, you will likely get the answer of “that’s what my pastor says” rather than “that’s what the Bible says”.

This is my fourth full time of reading the Bible from cover to cover, and I always try new methods of studying so I have better retention of the contents. The first time, I simply read the Bible. The second time, I read the Bible again using a highlighter to make note of important passages. The third time, I used a Bible software that included reference materials as well as a “Study Notes” section which, much like this blog, allowed me to take notes on my thoughts and perceptions.

This time, I’m reading each chapter, then making note of important things that stick out for me. Most importantly, I’m not using any reference materials related to the opinions of man; yes, I may refer to a map of Ancient Israel or some other factual document, but as far as citing someone like Luther, or Spurgeon (or is it Sturgeon…not, that’s a fish), I try to avoid that because man is not completely objective.

For example, I do not believe in an everlasting burning in hell fire as is most teachings. And here’s the problem…a Baptist Pastor in the 1800’s was asked if he really believed in “hell”, and his answer was “no, but if I don’t preach hellfire, I can’t fill the pews”. If you follow my blog, you’ll see why I do not believe in hell, or at least the hell that has been purported by Christian denominations.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a scholar nor a theologian and I’m certainly not smart enough to read the Bible and know “the answers”. Before each study, I simply pray to God for understanding and wisdom, and I ask that He fill me with the Holy Spirit to teach me, much as Jesus taught when He walked this earth.

So, it’s pretty simple. I have full faith in God that He will not lead me astray. If there is something that I am totally off base on, I feel He would convict me before I put it into words.

And honestly, the Bible is nothing but a group of stories telling us how to live, but mostly, how not to live.

One final note, Jesus said, “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father”. Many, many Christians disregard the Old Testament, saying it was done away with by Jesus, that it was of the “old” covenant, and the “new” covenant that was established pertains only to the New Testament. But I believe that is wrong.

First, Jesus said that He did not come to “abolish the law” but rather to “fulfill” it, and many times quoted Old Testament scripture and made many references to Old Testament prophets. I’ve been told by some that the word “fulfill” meant that when Jesus came and died on the cross, He took everything in the Old Testament for us and that it no longer applies to us, or that the Old Testament applied only to the Jews or the Hebrews. My definition of “fulfill” is to “fill full”, Jesus came to “fill us full” of the law.

Besides, if the Old Testament is obsolete, why do they keep printing it in Bibles? Why do the Bible of today, along with the various translations, include the Old Testament.

And speaking of the newer translations, be careful! Even the King James Bible which is predominant today may have errors in it. The original Hebrew and Greek versions of the Bible did not include punctuation; it was added by the literary scholars hired by King James to interpret the Bible, and we know what a difference a single comma can make in the context of things!

For example, when Jesus was on the cross talking to the thief, He said something to the effect of “I assure you today you will be in Heaven with me”. Translators put the comma after the word “you”, so it is interpreted as “I assure you, today you will be in Heaven with me”, meaning that as soon as the thief died, he would go to Heaven. We all know Jesus didn’t ascend into Heaven that day, He had to be entombed and resurrected. I believe the comma should be after the word “today”, so the context would be, “I assure you today, you will be in Heaven with me”, meaning yes, the thief was forgiven and would go to Heaven, but it wouldn’t be “today”. And more of my beliefs on that when we come to it.

So, just a review of where I stand. You may agree, or you may disagree. That is how we ended up with over 14,000 Christian denominations.

If you have any questions about why I believe a certain way, please feel free to reach out to me. And I try to have an open mind, so you may change my mind on things.

God bless.