I’ve been to very few churches who teach from the whole Bible, cover to cover.  Most all of them pick and choose what to major in, and most times they end up “majoring in the minors”.  One denomination is big on salvation. Another on gifts of the Spirit. Another on speaking in tongues, while another majors on prophecy.  There are as many denominations as there are pages in the Bible it seems.  And yet the ENTIRE Bible is telling us of the very nature of God and instructs us in how to follow Him.

So I have to ask YOU right now, which part do YOU pick and choose to major in?  The only correct answer I can see is the teachings of Christ Jesus.  After all, He is the very Son of God, the creator who made everything by the power of the heavenly Father.  It’s just as important to look at everything Christ Jesus (Y’shua Messiah) taught, as it is to look at everything He did NOT teach!

Look at church as we know it today. Look at the church YOU attend.  Let’s start there, being that is the one you are most familiar with.  What are they teaching?  Is it what Jesus taught His disciples, and what the disciples taught?  Or has this or that been left out, or this or that been added?

I’ve been to churches, for example, where I was told, “We don’t cast out devils here.”  They really didn’t need to tell me, it was pretty evident the moment I walked in.  Some I’ve heard teach from the pulpit that speaking in tongues is of the devil.  I’ve heard some pretty strange stuff being taught over the last 28 years I’ve been in the ministry, stuff that about scares the socks off of me!  And it hurts my heart that people are being so deceived, from the very people who are supposed to be teaching the truth of the Word of God!  If you start in Matthew 1:1 and go through John 21:21, you will see the accounts of what Jesus taught His disciples.  Now I’m not discounting the Old Testament: the Old Testament told of the coming of Christ Jesus through the Prophets.

But what good is it to major in prophecy and know everything that is going to happen in the future, if you don’t know the One who HOLDS the future as your Lord and Savior?  To know in part is to lose out in a major way on the parts that AREN’T TAUGHT!

If you go to one church, they may major on the blessings of God, such as prosperity or healing.  Another may major on “fire and brimstone” judgment on what happens to those facing the wrath of God.  But again, WHAT DID JESUS TEACH?

You will note that He said there is only one way to the Father, and that is through Him, so that pretty much excludes the “many ways to God” that some teach.  There is only ONE way to the Father, period.

I know people who have been members of such and such church their entire lives.  They are what I call the “pillars of the church”, in that they are steadfast in the belief that their way is the ONLY way, and everyone else is wrong.  Think about this for a moment: when you went to school, did you have the same teacher from kindergarten to senior?  No? Then why would you want the same pastor for your whole life?

There isn’t a pastor who knows it all and teaches it all, including ME!  I realize God puts people with me for a time and a season so I can impart something to them that God wants them to know, and then He moves them on to someone else who knows something that I don’t.  And that’s a good thing!

Now I’m not advocating being a “cruise-o-matic” christian that cruises from church to church, and when they hear something that doesn’t sit right with what they believe, they cruise on to another church, in hopes that they find the one that agrees with everything they believe.  No, that’s not the way, either.  But rather, don’t be afraid to hear what the other churches teach.  You may learn something you don’t already know.  That is, unless you’re already a “know it all”.   And if you’re a true student of the Bible, you’ll be able to recognize false teachings that don’t line up with the Word.  I tell people, “Eat the meat and spit out the bones.”

There will be times you will hear something that just doesn’t “sound right”.  Put it “on the shelf” for now, and later the LORD will reveal it to you.  Or He may reveal it to be false teaching.  You won’t know everything overnight.  No, sometimes it takes a whole week…..

 

Proverbs 3:1-6 says

  1  My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:

 2  For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 

 3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

 4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 

 5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

 6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

            You can be sure that the LORD wants the very best for you.  And you can be sure that what you believe today may be altered by what you find to be truth tomorrow.  Your walk with the LORD will change and upgrade every day, if you’re truly seeking Him.  He will stretch your faith, sometimes to what you feel is the breaking point, and one day you’ll say, “Wow!  I see it now!  I didn’t understand that before!”  But if you’re “stuck”, unwilling to explore the WHOLE Word of God, you’ll have very few of those “AHA!”moments.

I’ve spent many years earnestly studying God’s Word, and not a day goes by that I don’t learn something I didn’t know yesterday.  And I didn’t get that way listening to the same pastor for the past 28 years.  Yes, I’ve heard some that have jumped the tracks and taken a dirt road, but the Holy Spirit is always there to tell me “Pay attention and learn”, or “See the Exit sign above the door?  Use it!”  I know I don’t have all the truth, but neither do you.  I also know that if we live forever, we will never know everything about God that there is to know, for every day He will reveal a part of Him we have never seen before.

Listen for what Jesus taught, and listen good, and then DO IT!  If Jesus taught it, embrace it.  If He didn’t teach it, then leave it alone.  There’s a lot of “junk” being added today to the Gospel that Jesus and the Disciples didn’t teach.  And we should leave it alone.  And there’s a lot being left out that we dearly need to know in order to live in this world today and be effective witnesses for Jesus. Go for the WHOLE counsel of God, don’t just “major in the minors”.

Do you know why the early church grew so rapidly?  The disciples taught what Jesus taught, and nothing but what Jesus taught.  Somehow we’ve gotten away from that today, where church is more about light shows and entertainment than it is about preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and getting people saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.  We need to get back to our “roots”, for Jesus said He is the vine, and WE are the branches.  It is written in John 8:31-32,

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

            Would you be satisfied to know only “part” of the truth, and only be “partly” free?  How about being able to stand at the Pearly Gates in that day, and be told, “You can look all you want, but you can’t come in.”?  There’s a lot more truth in the Word of God than either you or I know at the present time.  I’m willing to let God show me what He wants me to know.  How about YOU?  Will you always be comfortable being “stretched”?  Not likely, but if you let God have His way with you, it will all work out for your good!