Bible Saturated Thinking

"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." Acts 17:10-11

We at GMTB believe that the Bible is God's Word spoken to men; all of it. It is not just the "basis" of all we do, it is the "dynamic" of all we do. When we approach the Bible in faith, it comes alive by the Holy Spirit. It is not just what God has said; it is what God is saying, now. It is not just concerned with "religious" things, but speak to all of life. God has purposed to glorify himself through his people and He has chosen to do this by revealing Himself and His ways through His Word.

There is a great battle presently being waged over the authority and sufficiency of God's Word. The Enemy hates God's Word. He will do anything to keep God's people from pursuing Christ in His Word. Sometimes his attacks come directly from unbelieving forces.

I Delight in Your Decrees: A Personal Testimony
Psalm 119:9-18

“I think the Word of God teaches us more things concerning it….than has been generally believed, and that it exhibits many things concerning it, exceeding glorious and wonderful, than have been taken notice of.” Jonathon Edwards

I am writing a seminar and teaching it around the world to ask one question: Why does the Psalmist delight in God’s decrees? It is not the most important question that we can ask but I think it leads to the most important question we can ask. I say that because if we get it wrong here we get it wrong all the way down the line. There is something about delighting in God’s decrees that makes all the difference in the way we live and the way we minister. Too often the Church has turned to the Word out of duty rather than delight and the results have been disastrous. Not only has the Church become weak because of it. Something infinitely more tragic has happened: God has been dishonored because of it.

We at GMTB love the clear bold witness of John Wesley. He confidently and joyfully declared the sufficiency of God's Word. Tragically, today many church leaders have lost that confidence. Many doubt whether the Bible is really a sufficient resource for the growing and healing of the church in such a hostile and sick environment. Many in the church have lost their confidence in the power of God's Word and have been intimidated into silence.

Cal Thomas had the opportunity to interview the infamous atheist Madalyn Murray Ohare before she met her Maker. She is the one, you will remember, who was given the "credit" for ending prayer in the schools. Thomas asked her why so many people feared her. Her answer was startling. She replied, "I will tell you, Mr. Thomas, why some Christians are afraid of me. They’re not sure that what they believe is really true. If they were sure, I wouldn’t be a threat to them at all."