Reoccuring Themes

You learn more about a subject by teaching it than you would if you were to hear the same material presented in a lecture. Today, last night's lesson was well learned (even though i just wrote about it...). It is cool how God works. I made a mistake on a post and took something out of context. Last night, i studied more about why it was out of context. It was made clear that you can't take one verse and use it to aid you in whatever thought may be going through your head at the time. I'm not criticizing using one verse, it is fine as long as it is following the thought of the surrounding passage. I couldn't sleep last night until i had corrected my mistake. Come to find out, there was a reason for it needing to be taken care of last night. It was to prepare me for today.

Today was the same ol' Thursday. English class followed by lunch with my friends at the Tri-C. They do this little thing where they share a short message and i have never had a problem with it until today. Of all the things for the guy to talk about, it had to be the thief on the cross. He had to mention that he wasn't saved and had only died (or something like that) and proceeded in saying that anyone that hadn't been baptized was condemned. When it was over, he made the mistake of saying "Any questions or comments?" Before i raised my hand, i told myself, "Stacy, keep that big mouth of yours shut." My hand didn't listen. A discussion ensued. For 45 minutes, i was quoted various scriptures discussing why you had to be baptized to be saved. Today was a day that i was reminded of why it's smart to keep a Bible with you. They had very nice little proof texts, but i was able to open my Bible and look them up as they were giving references. In doing so, i was able to point out CONTEXT. None of those verses seemed to be in line with what the passage as a whole was saying. I was able to point that out and make a case against taking that one verse by itself as being able to stand alone. You could read two verses ahead or behind and disprove their interpretation of that single verse. It wasn't hard. By no means am i calling the Church of God a cult, but i will take this issue as being one of those i mentioned in my last blog. In scripture, we are commanded to be baptized. No where (in my reading) does it say that it's necessary for salvation. They aren't the only ones guilty of taking things out of context. I hope not to be again.

And to quote Forest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that..."