As Julia says "Moving Forward."

Having already spent 6 blogs banging on about Jesus turning water into wine and how our prior beliefs affect the way we interpret the life of Jesus it’s time to look at moving forward. Of course in moving forward we need to check what us behind us so that we know where we have come from and thus where we are going to. I would like to, in light of what I’ve covered previously, propose some principles that will help us build a stronger faith and encourage us to share the joy we have in Christ based on the life and teachings of Jesus as portrayed in the Bible.

Firstly I would like to propose that we for ourselves commit to in depth study of the gospels on a regular basis in an attempt to grow in understanding of what the text says and means to us in today’s world and to be able to intelligently share this study with others. One way I intend to do this is to use my Strong’s more and look up different words comparing when they are used and what they translate in each context. This ought to give a clear distinction of possible outcomes and thinking through what the word may actually mean.

Secondly I would like to suggest we adopt a principle of healthy discussion amongst believers and missionaly to non-believers rather than having a debate mentality.  Choosing to discuss rather than debate will give the chance for both sides to grow in knowledge and is a more loving approach rather than a prideful need to be right. Practically I guess this would mean rather than disproving others and proving your points try to fit their view and your view together to make one view that matches what is known to be true already.

Thirdly a principle I know I need to work on is learn what the bible actually says! So many arguments could be avoided if we learn to remember what the bible specifically says rather than guessing and making wrong assumptions. If someone quotes something and you want to respond but don’t know what the verse actually says don’t try blurt out something and say that’s what the bible says, say I think this is what xyz says in abc but I need to check to make sure. Memorising Jesus words can be most useful as most of what the Bible talks about is summarised in Jesus words and can be an easy way of memorising a summary of the entire Bible.

My hopes are that after having read these blogs there will be less whining about different interpretations of Jesus life and ministry, but rather that we will choose to enjoy differences. The differences that spur us on to dive deep into the gospels getting a better picture of the man we call Jesus, and whether the wine on that night was actually wine or grape juice.

I leave you with the following to inspire you to move forward in your pursuit of gospel portrait of Jesus.

Julia Gillard's Moving Forwrd Remix
I love pulling material from other blogs for my blog...http://www.therebelution.com/blog/2008/01/keep-moving-forward/