Quote from Forum Archives on February 13, 2001, 12:50 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Those of you who read these messages know that I am a student of
Bible reading, prayer, quiet time, and attentiveness to the
matters concerning Our Creator, the God of all things.

Worship is one of the ways that I express the things that I
believe about God. Some of us have ideas about what worship
means. I start with the word - "Worth" and go from there. God
is worth all of my devotion and attention. That is why I think
about Him so much.

I have a tendency to get stuck on things, and focus on them for a
long time, I admit that. For me, if I am going to get stuck on
something, I would much rather that it be something worth getting
stuck on. That is how I feel about my relationship with God.
There is no other thought and no other thing more worthy of my
mind, my energy, my time, than in considering God, in all His
splendor. My words cannot even begin to describe His worth.

So is it worthwhile thinking about such things? I think so, for
me, I KNOW so! Therefore, when we consider matters of doctrine,
these are not just things to get philisophical about, they are
matters of life and death. Personally, I choose life.

I pick up today on the third in a series of messages that Bob
Kauflin has been sharing from Jeff Purswell, editor of Bible
Doctrine. If you are interested in the complete series, you can
find it at the Crosswalk.com Web site. Look for the "Worship
Matters" series there.

Dear Lord,

You are worthy, not just of my study, You are worthy of my
attention and all of my praise. I humbly offer these thoughts,
not only to my friends, but to You as well. Please teach us, as
we seek to know who You are, so that Your Name will be deeply
honored and revered in our hearts. Please grow, from deep within
our spirits, the same love for You that You have for us. May we
also learn to know and demonstrate that love to one another, and
fulfill Your purpose for our lives. I ask these things humbly,
in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Brother Brian

Subject: Worship Matters: Joy in the Truth, Part 3, February 12, 2001
To: masinick@yahoo.com
From: Crosswalk.com <newsletters@crosswalk.com>

WORSHIP MATTERS, with Bob Kauflin of PDI Ministries
www.pdinet.org/

Visit the Spiritual Life Channel on Crosswalk.com:
spiritual.crosswalk.com

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Here is part three of a four-part guest series from Jeff
Purswell. Jeff Purswell is editor of Bible Doctrine (published by
Zondervan), a pastor at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg,
Md., and dean of the Pastors College operated by PDI Ministries.
Bob Kauflin's series on music will resume when this series ends.

Joy in the Truth, Part 3

Is it vital that Christians study doctrine? Is that really
necessary for a life of God-glorifying worship? These are the
questions we've been asking in this series. Last week, we
examined one common objection to the idea that doctrine is
important. Let's look now at two more.

Christians sometimes claim that doctrine can be a negative
influence on one's walk with God because doctrine "only
complicates the Christian life." Is that true? Or is it doctrinal
"ignorance" that can quickly turn a believer's walk of faith into
aimless, presumptuous wandering?

Take Jim, for example-a fictional character I'll use to
illustrate the basic failing of this objection. Jim wants to
simplify his life, so he decides to become a doer of the Word and
not a studier of it. If it's there in Scripture, he'll just do
it. How could you ever go wrong that way?

In his devotions, Jim comes to Luke 18, where the rich young
ruler asks Jesus how to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him,
"go sell all your goods, give it to the poor and come and follow
me." So Jim stops reading, and does exactly that.

The next day, in his devotions, he's sitting (on the floor)
of his (empty) apartment reading Scripture, and comes to the very
next chapter. There, in Luke 19, Jesus celebrates the fact that
Zacchaeus gave away half his possessions to the poor, stating
"today salvation has come to [Zacchaeus'] house." What's going on
here? Jim is confused -- not to mention broke and on the verge of
eviction. "You mean I could have kept half my stuff and still
gone to heaven?!"

Needless to say, our poor friend Jim is clueless about a
great many things. Most importantly, he seems to believe that
salvation can be earned. He has missed the point of these
passages completely. Why? Ignorance of doctrine.

Ignorance of doctrine complicates the Christian life. When
we don't understand doctrine, we use "proof texts" to justify our
choices, or we fixate on secondary truths at the expense of
primary ones. But the understanding of doctrine clarifies life
and makes it intelligible. It helps you to navigate through this
world that God created and reigns over. Ignorance is no virtue-it
complicates. But knowledge clarifies.

Here's one more objection to the study of doctrine: A great
many people in our day claim that doctrine is bad because it
"divides Christians." But this view has the weight of the
historical evidence exactly backwards.

Yes, there are many doctrinal differences among true
Christians. Most of these are on issues of secondary or even
lesser importance. Given the limitations and sins with which we
all struggle, some element of disagreement is inevitable! Yet
look at the huge body of core doctrinal areas on which virtually
all believers agree. Across the face of the earth and throughout
history, there has been and continues to be overwhelming
agreement on the central elements of the faith.

The Trinity, the Person of Christ, the Atonement ... How did
this complex, highly nuanced and phenomenally uniform body of
doctrine come into being? Through the careful, prolonged and
purposeful study and teaching of theology! Without these, there
is no true unity in the church. Sound doctrine, flowing from a
faithful allegiance to Scripture, unites us all.

Next week, we'll conclude by looking at how doctrine produces
in us a life of worship that is both true and passionate.

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=====
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Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/
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