NowTHINK!AboutIt

Bible Inspiration’s Most Important Point

April 2, 2021 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Peter Didn’t Understand Inspiration’s
Most Important Point
And That Made Him Vulnerable To Failure

The meaning of inspiration and how it actually worked is not the topic of this post.

It’s an interesting topic and I’ll say enough to establish the basics but the discussion can and has filled volumes. Google it and you’ll get endless pages of search results.

Sadly, most discussions focus so heavily on the meaning of the word inspiration, they fail to develop the most important point:

If the Bible is inspired, it stands alone and needs no help from human ideology.

It’s finished. You can accept it, you can’t change it. It’s God’s Word and His alone.

The Bible is NOT intended to tell us what we already know and it wasn’t provided as a proof text to endorse our pet ideologies.

And God makes that point very succinctly:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD. (Isaiah 55:8)

That idea is the motivation of this post.

“Inspiration” Not The Best Word

It should at least be mentioned that the word “inspiration’ is probably not the best word to describe how the Bible came to be.

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The English word has roots in Latin, inspirare, which means “to breathe or blow into” but that doesn’t correspond exactly with the New Testament Greek or with what we understand about how the Bible was written.

More to the point, the word has also taken on new meanings totally unrelated to the Bible. These new meanings have broadened sufficiently to eclipse its biblical meaning.

The Greek word that denotes this process is theopneustos. It is a compound word from “theo” (God) and “pnuema” (spirit) and literally means “God-spirited.” Modern translations, however, are opting for God-breathed instead of Inspiration or God-spirited for obvious reasons.

Inspiration is not a bad word, but with the new connotations, it is no longer the most precise word.

Spiriting isn’t how we express words so God-breathed is a little more relatable to the average person.

However, Inspiration is the word most often used when discussing the concept theologically and I haven’t abandoned the use of it in this post. [Read more…] about Bible Inspiration’s Most Important Point

How Peter Learned Obedience

April 1, 2021 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Peter’s Heart Was In The Right Place
His Head Was In Another

In my last post, I made the point that Peter’s failure, the reason he denied Jesus, was ideological. He was invested in ideas that ran contrary to God’s plan.

Failure was guaranteed. The only plan that works is God’s plan. Changing the details is like rewriting the Bible.

People, Christian or not, don’t see it that way. A little modification here or there can’t be that bad. That’s what Peter thought but he might have something very different to say if he were here today.

Fortunately, Peter did recover. It wasn’t easy. He had to work through a bit of guilt and despondency but he got through it. The question is did Peter learn his lesson?

Yes, but it took a while.

What Jesus Planned

Jesus had a plan in eternity past, before the creation of the world. He knew exactly what would happen and what He would do and He did it.

He took on human form, He grew and developed in the way humans develop – except without sin, and died for the sins of the world.

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That wasn’t what Peter wanted but it was the plan. Jesus made the plan clear to the disciples but there’s no evidence the penny dropped until after He rose from the grave.

Allusions To The Cross

Early in Jesus’ public ministry, Jesus began making allusions to His death, burial, and resurrection.

After cleansing the Temple, Jesus said, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. (John 2:19)

He was talking about His body and the resurrection but no one caught on till after he rose from the dead.

He referred to being life up in the same way Moses lift of the serpant in the wilderness. (John 3:14)
He used Jonah’s experience to represent His burial and resurrection. (Matthew 12:39-40)

Instead of getting it, they were confused. It went right over their heads. [Read more…] about How Peter Learned Obedience

Why Did Peter Deny Jesus?

March 31, 2021 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

The Most Important Quality Of Leadership
Has Nothing To Do With Ability

Why did Peter deny Jesus? That’s a good question.

Everything we know about Peter, up to the point when he denied Jesus, indicates he was a stalwart.

Peter was loyal, thoughtful, determined, and faithful. Nothing about him said Flake and yet, he did deny Jesus.

If it could happen to him, could it happen to you and me? Are we better than Peter or should we pay careful attention so we can avoid the same tragic mistake?

Discovering Peter’s Fail Point

In my last post, I compared Peter to both the Pharisees and to Jesus and from the comparison, it became clear that he was different to both, kind of in a no man’s land.

We tend to think of Peter as being on Jesus’ side but if anything, he was more at odds with Jesus than with the Pharisees. Not a good place to be.

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We learn a big lesson from that observation. Just because you think you oppose those who oppose Jesus, doesn’t mean you’re in the right. And your thoughts on the matter may be completely wrong.

Thoughts, Thinking, Ideas

Keep that in mind. Thoughts, thinking, and ideas are the focus in this post.

Peter thought he opposed the ideas of the Pharisees but was actually more like the Pharisees than Jesus.

He wasn’t on either side. He actually opposed both.

The question is why was he like this? How did Peter go so badly wrong? What was his fail point? Can we put a name to his sin?

He was clearly in the middle and that contributed to his failure, but we need to observe closely to determine exactly how and why he failed.

That is my intent in this post. Let’s start with Peter’s bio. [Read more…] about Why Did Peter Deny Jesus?

Apostle Peter Abuses Bible – Denies Jesus

March 31, 2021 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Peter Was More Like A Pharisee
Than A Christian

Most people think the only way to abuse the Bible is to disbelieve it, and that means there are only two kinds of people: those who believe it and those who don’t.

That approach keeps everything simple. The people who believe are OK. Those who don’t are in trouble. Accept or reject. Embrace or deny. In or out. One group is good, the other not.

I’ve got news for you.

There are actually two ways to abuse the Bible. One way is obvious and the other a bit insidious. One group admits to abuse. The other group isn’t even aware.

Takers

The obvious way to abuse the Bible is done by people who do not believe the Bible.

They read through it cherry-picking the portions they like and discarding the rest. This approach isn’t an outright rejection but the end result is a complete rearrangement.

I call this the Take-Away approach to the Bible and I refer to the people who do it as Takers.

If that were the only way to abuse the Bible, this post would be finished. It’s not. There is, unfortunately, a second way to abuse the Bible, and the people who engage it are just as guilty. The problem is they aren’t as aware.

Adders Are Problematic Too

I call this second class of abusers Adders. These are people who believe the Bible, endorse the Bible, love the Bible, and claim to adhere to it ardently, but in the end, only create confusion by adding more restriction and regulation to what the Bible actually says.

That’s two diametrically opposed approaches to the Bible both of which are problematic. The effect of one is to reduce the Bible (Takers). The effect of the second is to expand the Bible (Adders). Both approaches are wrong and are considered sins of the highest order.

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This is not an opinion. The Bible clearly warns against both approaches. [Read more…] about Apostle Peter Abuses Bible – Denies Jesus

The Line Connecting Anti-Trust And Public Benefit

March 5, 2021 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Competition And Fair Pricing
Are Alive And Well With Big Tech

Apple is being investigated in the EU, UK, and the USA regarding anti-trust rules. Investigators are focused on Apple’s App platform, motivated specifically by the allegation that Apple manipulates the platform to reduce competition with apps developed by Apple. The biggest (but not the only) complaint behind the allegation comes from Spotify.

A second developer, Epic, is stirring the pot with the same complaint. Now that they have gained momentum, they no longer want to pay for the right to sell on the store. Apple gets 30% of the first year’s subscription price. Developers agree to this upfront and then when they gain traction, it hurts losing all that money to Apple.

The reading gets a bit thick at times but I found Apple’s response to Spotify thought-provoking.

Addressing Spotify’s Claims, dated March 14, 2019.

I can see both sides but lean heavily toward Apple. Both complaints come from industry hefties whose growth was made possible by the Apple gateway.

And it’s true. Apple offers a great option for developers to get their brand before the public. The fees associated with being in the store are agreed to upfront and the rules are clear. At this point, the suit seems like a “he said, she said” sort of scenario but hopefully, the angst will be sorted soon and the rest of us can get on with life.

Apple, of course, is just one of several being targeted by Anti-Trust investigations. Google, Amazon, and Facebook are all under pressure.

Personally, I don’t use Facebook much but many people do, not only for social benefit but for business promotion also. All these companies serve useful purposes that benefit a large number of people.

The Public Benefit

Data indicates that 197 million people worldwide visit Amazon every month. More than one billion people use Google’s products and services. And Facebook has roughly 2.8 billion active users every month, more than a third of the world’s population. I might add that many of the people using Facebook, Google and Apple are in third world cultures. The benefit is astounding.

CORRECTION: I was recently notified by a “good neighbor” from FRACTL that the numbers have radically changed. Instead of 197 million, Amazon now boasts 2.7 billion monthly searches as of the end of 2021. You can find many other very interesting numbers for Amazon’s amazing growth at CouponFollow.

Personally, I do use Amazon, a lot, and Google, and I’m writing this post using my trusted Apple desktop computer which I consider one of my primary tools for daily productivity. I used PC’s for years before converting but now I can’t imagine anything but Apple.

Sorry, Mr. Gates. I mean no insult. You brought personal computing to the world and I can’t say how much that changed my life so you’re among the heroes too.

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I’m not alone, though. In fact, I would venture to guess that the investigators are probably using Apple devices of one kind or another to write their reports and more than likely employing Google search to access data all while munching on snacks they ordered from Amazon. And, of course, keeping in touch through Facebook or one of many varied social apps offered on Apple. [Read more…] about The Line Connecting Anti-Trust And Public Benefit